The Duchess of Cambridge embarked on a 24-hour tour of the UK to launch her new survey for her Early Years initiative, earlier this week. On Wednesday morning, Kate thrilled fans in Cardiff as she touched down in the Welsh capital to meet locals and children. The mother-of-three attended a baby sensory class at the Ely and Careau Children's Centre.
Kate's survey contains five short questions and aims to spark a national conversation on the early years that will ultimately help bring about positive, lasting change for generations to come. Running for a month from 21 January to 21 February, it will give people across the UK an opportunity to provide their views on raising the next generation.
The Duchess began her tour in Birmingham on Tuesday where her first stop was at the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, where she was shown around the interactive space by children and chatted to parents, including Giovanna Fletcher.
Take a look at the best photos from day two of Kate's tour of the UK…
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The Duchess was given a warm welcome at the Ely and Careau Children's Centre. The centre provides high quality early years education, childcare support services to children and their families, support for children with special needs and provision of adult education.
Play, breakfast and after-school clubs and holiday clubs are also housed in the centre, as well as health visitors, speech and language therapists and partners such as Sure Start and Language and Play. There is close contact with community partners such as the Salvation Army and Barnardo's.
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Kate styled her brunette locks in her signature blowdried waves.
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The mother-of-three looked in great spirits, wearing a black roll neck jumper, a £9.99 Zara leopard print skirt and high heel boots.
Kate recalled how she was living in Anglesey when Prince George was a "tiny baby" and William was working night shifts as an RAF Search and Rescue helicopter pilot. "It's nice to be back in Wales! I was chatting to some of the mums earlier, It was the first year and I'd just had Goerge – William was still working with Search and Rescue and we came up here and I had a tiny tiny baby in the middle of Anglesey it was so isolated, so cut off. I didn't have any family around and he was doing night shifts. If only I had had a centre like this," she told staff at the Ely and Caerau Children's Centre.
Her first stop was in the baby sensory room, where babies were playing with spaghetti, jelly and musical instruments. Kate smiled at 11-month-old Eleanor Logue, who was happily covering herself in cooked spaghetti as mum Rhi, 29, talked about how she felt supported by other parents there. "You can come here and tell people, 'I haven't slept,'" said Rhi.
"And everyone else is like, 'I haven't either!'" laughed Kate. "It normalises it. No one is going to judge you for it. And it's a social thing for you."
Afterwards Rhi said: "We talked about post-natal depression and how hard it is to have a kid and how important centres like this are. I would have been in such a dark place without it. It's lovely to see her in a place like Ely. It's such a deprived area and there have been so many funding cuts. Sometimes you are scared to walk the streets, but coming here you feel safe. You don't feel like you are going to get mugged."
The Duchess ventured out to see the outdoor playhouse.
The royal was also introduced to resident guinea pigs Willow and Bella in a wooden hut. She crouched down to stroke the black-and-white pet, Willow, telling the children: "I had guinea pigs when I was little. I think your nursery is the best. She's so soft, isn't she?"
Watching as the children fed them carrots and sprouts, Kate joked: "I did not know that guinea pigs liked Brussels Sprouts! These guinea pigs are a lot quieter than the ones I had at home!"
Kate, who left Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at home, got involved as she chatted and played with the kids. Of her kids, she revealed: "We will be taking a trip down to Anglesey at some point."
Kate spoke to fellow parents and heard about the support they receive from the centre.
The Duchess was dropping in on a sensory class.
Kate, wrapped up in a stunning camel coat by Massimo Duttiwaves, waved to fans as she left the hour-long engagement.
Kate then travelled down to Surrey where she paid a visit to HMP Send. The Duchess wanted to hear about the considerable effect that experiences in the early years can have on the rest of your life.
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Kate spoke to some of the women she met during a visit to the prison in 2015, who have since been successfully rehabilitated, released and are rebuilding their families, in addition to women currently at the prison.
She also heard about the work that the Forward Trust do at HMP Send in supporting clients to improve their relationships with friends and family, including reconnecting with children.
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