A huge crowd of adoring royal fans have turned out to greet the Princess of Wales as she stepped out in Italy for her first solo work trip abroad in four years.

Catherine was seen smiling and waving at those who had gathered in Reggio Emilia, in the city’s north, for a glimpse of her as she kicked off her official engagements.

The last time she was overseas on a work trip was back in 2022, well before she was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently underwent a course of chemotherapy treatment.

The solo Italian trip is part of her years-long work with her Royal Foundation for Early Childhood.

Sources have described it as a “fact-finding mission”, according to The Sun, and is projected to be the first of many more similar international trips.

In recognition of her dedication to early childhood work, the future queen is being honoured with the city of Reggio Emilia’s highest honour, the “Primo Tricolore”.

There was certainly a huge local buzz around her arrival, with excited fans heard cheering their approval as she stepped out of her car in the town square on Wednesday morning.

At one point, Kate was heard saying “parlo un po’ d’italiano. Come ti chiami? Io sono Caterina”, which translates to “I speak a bit of Italian. What is your name? I am Caterina.”

Kate had studied art in Florence, aged 18, during her gap year in 2000 and has clearly remembered a bit of the local language.

During her visit, the princess spent half an hour chatting with three local “nonnas” who had first worked on the “Reggio Emilia Approach” – a student-centred early childhood teaching philosophy – when it launched 75 years ago.

“I love that you put children and childhood at the heart of the community, and I’m really fascinated to learn more about it,” Kate told them.

“You obviously had to really fight for it.”

Later, she told the mayor that she was “really grateful for the warm welcome”.

Kate then visited the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, where the Reggio Emilia Approach is taught, and which hosts around 130,000 visitors a year.

“I’ve been meaning to come for quite some time, so to be here now is very exciting,” she remarked after arriving.