January 2023 Newsletter: Let Kate Be Royal

Is Kate packing enough of a punch with her Early Years initiative? How did the Waleses' January stack up generally? And, my favorite ensemble of the month...

As always, before we get too far into this month’s newsletter, I want to quickly round up all the posts from this month to make sure no one missed anything:

• Leaked Copy of Harry’s Spare Making Headlines

• Happy Birthday, Kate!

• The Waleses’ First Engagement of 2023 as Spare Assault Continues

• Kate Visits Luton Nursery

• Kate Hosts Wheelchair Rugby Reception at Hampton Court

• Spare: Prologue through Section 10

• Kate’s New Advisory Committee

• William and Kate at Windsor Food Bank

• Kate in Red for Pre-Launch Event

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After yesterday’s pre-launch, Kate officially launched her Shaping Us campaign on a public engagement in Leeds. As I noted in yesterday’s post, Shaping Us is a campaign that will last five to ten years and is meant to “revolutionize the way the UK thinks about those early years of a child's life.” But I have already heard from a number of you asking, and read a number of op-eds that wonder, does this campaign pack the punch necessary to really make an impact?

A article in Sky even reported that a campaign group focused on childhood development said:

"We are well accustomed to MPs and royalty visiting early years settings, praising the invaluable work of practitioners from David Cameron to Gordon Brown and the Queen Consort. But nothing is done. The time has long passed for “awareness”. We need action - long-term investment and funding in the early years.

In one thought piece, Rhiannon Mills reflected: “as Kate was surrounded by cameras and crowds in Kirkgate Market in Leeds, the location for the launch of the campaign, it felt like there was something missing. This didn't feel like the urgent call to action she wants it to be.”