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The Princess of Wales joked the “messier it is, the better the fun” when she joined children playing with clouds of flour at a centre supporting families.
Kate crouched down to help the youngsters making imaginary cakes with plasticine and flour, and chatted to mothers about her young royals at Windsor.
The future Queen visited Home-Start Oxford to learn about the organisation’s work supporting parents juggling work, finances and creating a loving home for their children.
The princess spoke to sisters Mariam Namakula, 30, and Sumayya Nabatanzi, 28, from Oxford, as their combined five children ran around having fun.
When one of the children injected Kate with a toy syringe, the princess was left with flour on the jacket of her trouser suit and she asked another child “what are you making, are you making a cake? Delicious”.
Ms Namakula said afterwards: “She was enjoying herself with the kids and said ‘the messier it is, the better the fun’.
“Kate was saying Charlotte enjoys the outdoors and doing activities, and making things and how her kids are growing up fast.
“She said George is 12 years old and would soon be starting secondary school.”
Earlier, Kate published an essay highlighting the importance of creating a firm foundation for the lives of children by helping them develop “strong social and emotional skills”.
She also warned about the “epidemic of disconnection” created by smart phones and other gadgets, and urged society to “invest in the relationships you have with each other” in the piece written in collaboration with Professor Robert Waldinger, director of The Harvard Study of Adult Development.