The special episode will coincide with Children’s Mental Health Week
With her three children, George, 8, Charlotte, 6, and Louis, 3, Kate Middleton must have had plenty of practice reading bedtime stories. This week, she’ll be sharing her skills with children all over the UK, as she is set to star on a special edition of CBeebies Bedtime Stories.
The children’s show features a different celebrity reading a bedtime story each week, with previous guests including Reese Witherspoon, Ed Sheeran and Ryan Reynolds.
Kate’s special appearance will mark Children's Mental Health Week, which started Feb 7. For her episode, which will air on Sunday Feb 13, Kate will read The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson.
The story — chosen to fit this year's Children's Mental Health Week theme, ‘Growing Together’ — is about Plop, a baby barn owl, who is afraid of the dark. Through encouragement from his friends, Plop is able to gain confidence and confront his fears.
"I couldn't be more proud to have The Duchess read a CBeebies Bedtime Story as we mark the 20th anniversary of our CBeebies and CBBC channels,” said Patricia Hidalgo, Director of BBC Children's and Education in a statement. “It's such a special and relevant tale and perfectly represents this years' Children's Mental Health Week theme. I can't wait to see her deliver her own take on such a classic story and I'm sure our audience can't either."
As patron of the children's mental health charity Place2Be, supporting children's mental wellbeing is already a big part of Kate's royal work. Earlier this year, Kate announced the launch of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which aims to “transform society through early childhood”.
Part of the Royal Foundation, the charity Kate runs with Prince William, the Centre for Early Childhood will commission research into the enormous impact early childhood has on the rest of our lives, coordinate collaborations for new solutions, as well as develop campaigns to raise awareness and inspire action.
Kate is due to travel to Denmark later this month for a series of events, with Kensington Palace describing the country as a "beacon of best practice" in early years development. Through a series of events, she will promote the Foundation as well as learn more about progress in the field.
With Kate at the helm, the Centre could make a significant impact on young children in the UK. We can’t wait to see where the Duchess will take it.
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