What happened as the Princess of Wales visited Leeds Kirkgate Market and the university during Shaping Us campaign launch

The Royal Family have been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons this year since the release of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, and while the ricochets of the release may not have fully subsided, there was a distinct air of normality and focus on the job during Princess of Wales’s visit to Leeds on Tuesday as she greeted residents and spoke to stall holders at Kirkgate Markey and University of Leeds students about the national campaign she has launched.

Said to be her “life’s work”, Shaping Us aims to promote the importance of positive early childhood experiences in shaping adults and future society by focussing on the first five years of a child’s life, during which time our brains develop faster that at any other time. The campaign aims to transform the issue of early childhood “from one of scientific interest to one of the most strategically important topics of our time”.

The launch was held in Leeds due to the city’s ambition to be the best place in the UK for children and young people to grow up in, which is fuelled by the Child Friendly Leeds programme launched in 2012 that has seen brought benefits to young people.

The Princess arrived by the market’s food hall at around 11.40am and was greeted by the Lord Mayor Robert Gettings and a beaming Children’s Mayor Mason Hicks, who were both welcoming their second royal to the city in a matter of months following King Charles III’s visit in November.

Despite the last minute announcement of the location, there were throngs of people queued up to get a view of the future Queen Consort – many of whom had rushed to the market after the announcement and a fair few who had stubbled upon the guest’s arrival while doing their shopping.

Her Royal Highness took her time to chat with those in the crowd before making her way to the centre of the food hall where a short film highlighting the issues that the Shaping Us project was focussing on was being projected.

After mingling with a number of other residents she ventured her way through the historic market’s stalls to talk to some of the traders that have been in place for decades, starting at S Myers seafood stall before heading to florist Neil Ashcroft, who has been at his stall for 32 years, where the two joked about getting a discount and whether William would be buying her some flowers in the coming months.

Carrying a bouquet that had been passed on to her, Her Royal Highness then approached The Nut Shop where she spoke to Joanne Johnson, who began working at the stall as a 14-year-old with her mum on weekends. Speaking about the “surreal” experience of welcoming Royalty nearly 40 years on from those days, Joanne said: "It was so lovely. She’s very gracious, very beautiful.”

The three stall holders were told in advance that they’d be welcoming a “VIP”, though the identity was kept secret until the morning of her arrival. Joanne said: “She asked about the business, the produce, how long I’d been here and whether the business was getting back to some form of normality after the pandemic. It was a really nice conversation. She made me feel very at ease.

"When she left I thought ‘oh my goodness’ and felt a bit jittery. I felt a bit silly really because she’s only another human being.”

The Princess then made her way upstairs to sit and chat to local figureheads for the police force, council, library, and children’s groups such as Child Friendly Leeds, where she could be heard praising Leeds for having children’s interests “at its heart”. She went around each of the individuals and talked about their experience of working with young people and how they feel the campaign could benefit them.

PCSO Brendan Counsell, who works in the Armley area and specialises in early intervention, said: “The early years are really key these days and we spoke about my role in the community and the actions that I take with young people.

"A lot of people might wonder what the police have to do with child development but we come across a lot of young people day to day in our jobs.

"I found she was really interested and she seemed genuine, which is nice. Because you never know, do you?”

Afterwards the Princess sat with a group of stall traders and got their feedback about the campaign after they’d heard about it for the first time. Mylinh, Chiem, who runs a Vietnamese food stall, said: “I have a child as well so felt I could relate to her as a mother. We spoke about the market and how it shapes everyone and is a big part of the community.”

After the visit to the market the princess was then rushed to the Esther Simpson building at the University of Leeds to speak to take part in a module for Childhood Studies before sitting with and speaking to final year students.

Childhood Studies Programme Leader Katie Gathercole said: “She’s a really lovely, warm person and we’re delighted she’s launching this programme as it really does align with our studies and focus on how the early years of a child’s life serves as a blueprint for adulthood.

"We have excellent students on the course. I’m delighted that they have been given the opportunity to meet Her Royal Highness, and it is fantastic to see the shared commitment to improving the lives of children and young people.”