This week, Duchess Catherine delivered an impassioned plea to parents about raising the next generation of children.
The rare video in itself was powerful – Kate spoke openly about the impact elders can have on children, something that she’s been promoting awareness for over the past few weeks via a National Survey named the ‘5 Big Questions’.
But there was another, entirely different issue that the video brought to light – and no one, not even Kate herself, could have known the full extent of it.
Kate’s impassioned plea for parents was shared in a rare video posted to social media.
(Getty)If you cast your minds back to 2011, you’ll no doubt remember the whirlwind royal wedding between Kate and Prince William.
Drawing millions upon millions of eyeballs across the globe, the nuptials themselves required nothing but a clear visual of Kate in her heavenly McQueen wedding dress alongside several joy-inducing stills of Prince William looking smitten with his new wife to keep the masses happy.
No words were necessary.
In the years since, the same notion has rung true. Whenever Kate and William have stepped out at various royal engagements, we’ve watched the Duchess flourish in her role as a royal family member, and future Queen Consort of England.
Indeed as soon as the visuals of Kate at various outings land, we, and a plethora of royal watchers scramble to see exactly what she’s wearing, unpacking every part of her appearance and making mental notes to either recreate, or simply revel in.
But again, no words necessary.
Kate and William’s royal wedding in 2011 was nothing short of a spectacle – but it was only the beginning of a worrying norm for the new Duchess.
(Getty)This brings to light an important societal issue.
While we, ourselves will never deny the fact we love to see whatever heavenly ensemble the Duchess of Cambridge steps out in, it seems a little alarming that beyond that, we don’t require anything more to be satisfied.
Herein lies the problem: Is society so consumed by physical appearances that we’re overlooking what’s really important – what people actually have to say?
It was refreshing to see Kate speak up and out about something she’s passionate about in the short video clip posted this week.
And perhaps even more so, Kate’s candid participation in a long-form parenting podcast, which was released earlier this month, was also groundbreaking in itself – subconsciously, it probably came as a shock to some to actually hear the Duchess speak for such a long period of time.
And speak she did – the mother-of-three properly opened up for the first time about some of the realities she faced not only in becoming a mum, but also navigating parenthood in front of a thousand flashing cameras scrutinising her every move.
Kate is undoubtedly one of the most watched women in the world, so why aren’t we listening to what she has to say?
(Getty)For a woman who is at the forefront of almost every tabloid newspaper in the world, a woman who is under constant pressure to look impeccable despite being thrust into situations only comparable to a human circus, speaking out about something, anything would take some serious guts.
With this in mind, Kate’s candid admissions about parenthood this week should be recognised not only for the merit of her words themselves, but also for the giant step forward she made in reminding the world that at the end of the day, she is a human with voice that should be heard.
It’s time we really listened – rather than look – to that.
