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The Princess of Wales enjoyed a clay workshop today as part of her official visit to Italy to learn about the Reggio Emilia approach to education. Kate, 44, joined in with a clay atelier workshop at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre led by atelierista Marco Spaggiari.
“She stopped at the table and started working with clay,” Marco told T&C after the Princess departed. “She said that she wanted to stay with us another hour because yeah, she’s playing a lot. She’s learning a lot also from the play.” Marco said he was “impressed” by Kate, adding, “She started to ask a lot of really beautiful questions in connection with educational environment…I was impressed by the humanity of that person. I was also impressed by the capacity that she has to understand what we are saying.”
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The Princess of Wales takes part in an immersive clay atelier workshop.
Kate spent more than 90 minutes at the center, which is the hub for the Reggio Emilia childcare approach. It serves as a meeting place for international researchers, teachers, and families and is visited by over 130,000 people each year who want to learn more about the philosophy.
At the end of her visit, Kate met delegates from a Latin American study group. “She was very interested in learning about the Reggio Emilia approach…we’ve been coming to Reggio for many years,” Norma Guinto, President of education organization RedSOLARE Mexico, told T&C. “And she wanted to know how we bring this philosophy, this pedagogy to our country, and the changes that we have seen in our educational system, bringing this, a new way of teaching and learning.”
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The Princess of Wales visits the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre during the first day of her visit to Reggio Emilia.
Norma praised Kate for her “active listening,” saying, “I feel honored to meet her. It was so nice to see that she is real, you know. She had active listening, and she was making connections…it was human…I think it’s amazing, because being the person she is, I think she can influence education around the world and to benefit children from different backgrounds. We need that in this moment of our history as humanity.”
Kate spent three months in Florence during her gap year and spoke some Italian to the people she met today. She said “buongiorno” and “arrivederci” and asked people what their name was in Italian. At her first stop of Reggio Emilia’s Town Hall she was met by cheering crowds chanting her name.
Town & Country Contributing Editor Victoria Murphy has reported on the British Royal Family since 2010. She has interviewed Prince Harry and has travelled the world covering several royal tours. She is a frequent contributor to Good Morning America. Victoria authored Town & Country book The Queen: A Life in Pictures, released in 2021.