England v Wales on field pits Duke against Duchess in the stands
THEIR sporting rivalry has seen them go head to head on everything from dragon boats to wind buggies, tennis courts to cricket pitches.
But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will on Saturday find themselves in direct competition of a different kind when they attend England’s Six Nations match against Wales at Twickenham.
They will be cheering from a VIP box; one for England, the other for Wales.
The match will be the first for the Duchess, 40, since being named patron of the Rugby Football Union.
Her husband has been patron of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) since 2016, meaning the fixture will be laced with tension both on and off the pitch.
As the Duchess, who comes from a rugby-mad family, noted last month when asked about the latest rivalry, it will certainly “make things interesting.”
Before she dons an England scarf, the Duchess will this week undertake a solo trip to Denmark focused on another of her passions, early years development.
The mother-of-three hopes to learn more about how to bring up happy, healthy children and to return armed with ideas about how best to help the UK’S youngest residents.
The two-day trip will go ahead in line with the Queen’s wishes for members of the family to continue working while she has Covid, and will include a meeting between the Duchess and the Danish Queen and Crown Princess in a gesture of continuing friendship.
Denmark is credited with raising some of the world’s happiest children, with a spate of fashionable parenting books with titles including: The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People In the World Know About Raising Confident Capable Kids.
The Duchess subscribes to much of the Danish style, from the importance of play and nature activities to the benefits of nurseries and viewing typical toddler behaviour not as “naughty” but as “communication”. Some 90 per cent of Danish children are in formal day care from the age of one, with an emphasis on a “holistic” approach where caregivers observe children at spontaneous play, let them resolve their own arguments, and take risks in the outdoors.
Andreas Rasch-christensen, the research director in early years at VIA University College who spent an hour talking to the Duchess in preparation for the trip, said the Danish people and politicians had consensus about the best way to bring up children, suggesting that same cross-party agreement could one day be established in Britain.
A spokesman for Kensington Palace said: “Denmark is a beacon of best practice with its approach to early childhood as well as consistently ranking near the top of countries with the happiest people in the world.
“During the visit, Her Royal Highness will spend time learning about how Denmark has created an enabling culture for early childhood development, specifically how it has promoted infant mental wellbeing alongside physical health, and how it harnesses the power of nature, relationships and playful learning in the first five years of life.”
The trip is classified as a working visit for the Duchess’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. The Duchess will meet Danish pre-schoolers and families, leading researchers, academics and nursery teachers.
The visit was announced on social media using Lego, the country’s most famous toy export.
The Duchess will receive an official welcome from Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. The Danish Queen is celebrating her Golden Jubilee this year while the Queen marks her Platinum Jubilee.
‘Denmark is a beacon of best practice on childhood as well as ranking near the top of happiest people in the world’