The Duchess of Cambridge has given an insight into how she overcame the struggles of motherhood during a video call with Little Village HQ.
- Kate Middleton spoke to patrons of Little Village HQ to mark five years since opening.
- The Duchess of Cambridge said it’s “sitting down with a cup of tea” with other mothers that truly helps during the early days of motherhood.
- It follows royal news that the Royal Family 'may not outlast Prince William'
Kate Middleton is mother to three of the world’s most famous children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. And, there are suggestions that a fourth child could be in the pipeline.
But that doesn't mean the Duchess of Cambridge is immune from feeling all of the same “overwhelming” emotions that follow the birth of a child.
And now Prince William’s wife has revealed the one thing that she relied on during the days she was struggling, weeks after opening up about lockdown loneliness.
“It’s the sitting down with a cup of tea, having a chat, sharing your experiences with other mothers and things like that - that’s what makes such a massive difference,” she revealed during a video call with Little Village HQ.
“And that is what is so important, is to know where to reach out to if you’re struggling and need help.”
Kate previously revealed she experienced a feeling of isolation when she became a mother for the first time.
"It was the first year and I'd just had George—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,” Kate confessed last year.
"It was so isolated, so cut off. I didn’t have any family around and [William] was doing night shifts," she revealed. "So many families now are so spread out. It's much harder to rely on other generations for support.”
As a first time mum, Kate said there aren’t any books or material to prepare you for how you might feel.
The Duchess said, “Nothing can really prepare you for you the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love, and worry, all mixed together.
“Your fundamental identity changes overnight. You go from thinking of yourself as primarily an individual, to suddenly being a mother, first and foremost.”
Kate Middleton was overcome with emotion when she became a mother
Kate spoke with mothers who have used Little Village HQ in recent months to support them through motherhood.
The Duchess said she wanted to “check-in” during what has been “a particularly tricky time during the lockdown.” Kate and William isolated together with their children at Anmer Hall while Covid-19 restrictions were in place.
Like most parents up and down the country, Kate too has struggled with the pressure of homeschooling three children amid the global pandemic and has been left “exhausted”.
"We've had to become a teacher - and I think, personally, I feel pulled in so many different directions and you try your best with everything but at the end of the day I do feel exhausted,” she confessed.
Little Village HQ gives out equipment, toys and clothes to children and babies up to the age of five and are committed to alleviating child poverty in the UK.
