By Danielle Stacey
Copyright hellomagazine
The Princess of Wales has written a personal essay about the importance of putting down your screens and truly connecting with the people you care about, as she appeared to give an insight into her own family life. Titled “The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World,” Kate, 43, stresses: “Look the people you care about in the eye and be fully there – because that is where love begins”.
The mother-of-three writes: “For babies and young children, the pull of screens will be even stronger than for older children and adults, the habits more deeply ingrained as they grow. Yet this is precisely the period when children should start developing the social and emotional skills that will serve them throughout life. We’re raising a generation that may be more ‘connected’ than any in history while simultaneously being more isolated, more lonely, and less equipped to form the warm, meaningful relationships that research tells us are the foundation of a healthy life.”
Kate continues: “So, what are we to do about these trends driving us away from human connection? The answer begins with recognising that attention is something we can choose to give each other in every moment – at home, at work, in our communities. It requires conscious effort to be fully present with the people we care about. It means protecting sacred spaces for genuine connection: family dinners, conversations, moments of genuine eye contact and engaged listening.”
It comes after the Prince of Wales told Eugene Levy on his show, The Reluctant Traveler, that the family prioritises mealtimes. “We sit and chat, it’s really important. None of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about,” he said. Kate collaborated with Harvard Professor Robert Waldinger on the piece, whom she met at Harvard during her visit to Boston in 2022, and who also appeared at her symposium in 2023.
The essay emphasises that parents need to model “these behaviours for our babies and children and teaching them skills they will need to navigate a world filled with technological distractions,” as our brains undergo the fastest and most profound period of development in the earliest weeks and months of our lives.
The Princess adds: “It means helping [parents] understand that true connection requires presence, that relationships need tending, and that the quality of their connections will shape not just their happiness but their health for decades to come.”
She concludes by saying: “For babies and children who are raised in attentive and loving environments are better able to develop the social and emotional skills that will allow them to grow into adults capable of building loving partnerships, families, communities. This is our children’s greatest inheritance.”