The Princess of Wales escorted a group of four and five-year-olds from their school in London to the National Portrait Gallery to launch a new project – joining them on their minibus and helping them with their coats and jumpers

The Princess of Wales took on a new role today as she joined an excitable group of children on a school trip – and befriended one little girl who had no idea she was the future Queen.

Today Kate joined youngsters from All Souls CE Primary School in London on a school mini bus for an outing to the National Portrait Gallery (NPGs), to launch an interactive trail at the venue. The Bobeam Tree Trail, which is based on work by her Royal Foundation for Early Childhood, was created using the Shaping Us Framework, which outlines 30 social and emotional skills that are crucial to living a healthy, happy life at all ages and which the Princess launched on February 1.

The trail is based on a magical tree with beautiful, colourful leaves, which thrives when surrounded by stories. Children were asked to help the tree by discovering the stories of people depicted in the artworks – exploring facial expressions, listening to audio recordings and using props.

The Princess of Wales joins a school trip to the National Portrait Gallery ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
One little girl, Grace, five, became firm friends with the princess, clutching her hand as they arrived after they sat together on the bus. Kate then helped to shepherd the children into a crocodile before they made their way into the Gallery.

There were gasps of excitement as they spotted The Bobeam Tree, a life-sized model made from a metal frame covered in expanding foam and resin and topped with brightly coloured leaves. The children were welcomed by guide Anna Husband, the NPG’s Head of Learning, who explained that they would be following a trail to help the tree grow.

Upstairs in the Ondaatje Wing, the Princess walked past portraits of Winston Churchill and a young King George VI to the first stop on the trail, a Mood Magnifying Mirror Box, with a two-way mirror for children to look into one side and identify their friends’ facial expressions from the other.

The group followed a new interactive trail around the gallery ( 
Image:
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
To help them, a portrait of the smiling actress Anna Neagle was pointed out and the youngsters were asked to identify how she might be feeling. ‘Happy!’ they shouted. They were also encouraged to imitate her pose, hands on hips, which Kate did with a smile.

Alix Ascough, executive headteacher at All Souls, said: “She [Kate] had been asked if she would have a partner, and she was sat next to Grace on the coach and Grace had chatted away to her the whole journey.” But the youngster did not know she was holding hands with the future Queen. “She knew it was a very special visitor,” added Alix. “We told her she was a princess. She just called her Catherine.”

She said of the bus journey: “The children, they’re four or five years old. They’re completely oblivious to everything that’s happening. They were just like, ‘we’ve got a posh coach with nice lights and aircon’ and Catherine was wonderful, really chatty with the children. And just felt like a really relaxed journey. She was helping out with the children, helping out with their jumpers. It was just lovely.”

Kate cuddles one youngster ( 
Image:
PA)Alix said of the children: “They absolutely loved, it was so magical, the awe and wonder. And just as they came in and they saw the tree and the magic of the day… I don’t think we’ll ever have another school trip like it!”

She said the Princess said it had been a “wonderful opportunity” to be with the children in the gallery. “She was complimenting the children and how well-behaved they were and what good artists they were because they had the opportunity to draw pictures,” she added.

“Those experiences that we give the children are incredibly important, and days like today, where those experiences become magical, you sow those seeds for lifelong learning.”

Aimed at nursery and reception age children, the trail is completely free and runs until March 16. The NPG website is also offering related activities to do at home. The Princess, who has been patron of the NPG since 2011, also met its newly appointed Director Victoria Siddall and chief executives and expert practitioners from five other galleries across the UK.

Kate and the teachers guide the children off the bus ( 
Image:
PA)

Kate holds hands with five-year-old Grace ( 
Image:
PA)Over the course of 2025, The Box, Plymouth, The Lowry, Manchester, Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, National Museums Northern Ireland and Museums and Galleries Sheffield will work with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and the National Portrait Gallery to bring the Shaping Us framework to life through their own collections.

Staff at the museums and galleries will also co-design a toolkit to help others across the UK to incorporate the framework into their offerings for younger visitors. The future Queen unveiled the Shaping Us Framework earlier this week, calling on society to “invest in humankind” and “build a more loving, empathetic and compassionate” world.

Drawn up by international academics, clinicians and early years practitioners brought together by her Centre for Early Childhood, it is hoped that the framework might be applied across society, in areas such as wellbeing programmes, team building, professional development, recruitment and human resources.