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Daddy’s little Princess! Days after launching Shaping Us, the Princess of Wales shared on social media a baby photo of herself with her father Michael Middleton. The adorable throwback photo showing Catherine reaching for her dad’s face was taken by the royal’s mother Carole Middleton .
The caption alongside the image began with a quote followed by a personal message from the Princess of Wales. “‘Faces are a baby’s best toy.’ On Tuesday we launched #ShapingUs to raise awareness of the vital role our early years play in shaping the rest of our lives,” the caption alongside the picture reads. “This weekend, we’d love for you all to spend time with your friends, families, colleagues and communities talking about your early childhoods and how they’ve shaped your lives.”
“I hope you’ll also consider joining me in sharing a picture of yourselves before your fifth birthday to help with those conversations and to share some smiles and memories too. 📸 with Dad, by Mum,” Catherine added.
Social media users commented on the resemblance between the Princess and her youngest child, Prince Louis . “Louis is your TWIN 😍,” one wrote. Another penned, “Louis or Catherine?! Mummy’s twin.”
The release of the image followed the launch Shaping Us, an awareness raising campaign to increase public understanding of the importance of the first five years of a child’s life. The long-term campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood kicked off on Jan. 31 with a short claymation film that highlights how babies and children develop in response to their early experiences.
“The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships, and surroundings during our early childhood, fundamentally shapes our whole lives. It affects everything from our ability to form relationships and thrive at work, to our mental and physical well-being as adults and the way we parent our own children,” Catherine said in a previous statement. “These are the most preventative years. By focusing our collective time, energy, and resources to build a supportive, nurturing world around the youngest members of our society and those caring for them, we can make a huge difference to the health and happiness of generations to come.”
“All of society has a role to play in this, even if you are not directly involved in a child’s life, because we are all responsible for building a more compassionate world in which our children can grow, learn and live,” the Princess continued. “In these difficult times, it is more important than ever to help support parents and caregivers provide loving, safe and secure homes for their babies and young children to thrive.”
