Kate Middleton has ‘plan’ to help Covid-19 crisis’s ‘silent victims’

The Duchess of Cambridge is ‘shifting focus’ and has a ‘secret plan’ to launch new initiatives to ‘help silent victims’ of the Covid-19 crisis, sources have claimed.

Kate Middleton, 39, is currently spending the country’s third lockdown at her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall with Prince William, 38, and their children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two.

Royal sources said the mother-of-three is shifting her focus to help charities operate in a post-pandemic world, while progressing work on her Early Years survey. 

An insider told the Mirror: ‘The Duchess’s primary work will be to build on the results of the survey and bring together more partners to focus on those who are most at risk of falling through the cracks of society.’   

The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, is ‘shifting focus’ and has a ‘secret plan’ to launch new initiatives to ‘help silent victims’ of the Covid-19 crisis, sources have claimed

They continued to say that the issues Kate is passionate about, including homelessness, addiction and poor mental health of children and their families, would have been ‘exacerbated’ during the crisis.   

Meanwhile Peter Grigg, CEO of Home Start UK which helps support the children of disadvantaged or struggling families – said Kate was working to help the ‘silent victims’ of the crisis.

He said: ‘The early years have been historically woefully underfunded, but the attention on the Duchess’s focus has the capacity to make real change.’     

Throughout the pandemic, the Cambridges have adapted their public life, turning to video calls to carry out virtual engagements and then joining socially distanced face-to-face events when restrictions were lifted.

Royal sources have revealed the mother-of-three hopes to further work on her Early Years survey, while helping charities operate in a post-pandemic world

At the start of the crisis, sources told Vanity Fair that the Cambridges wanted to revamp’ their work in the face of coronavirus.

Royal expert Katie Nicholl has also revealed how the Duke would be ‘stepping up into statesman role’ during the crisis.

Speaking to Australian website 9Honey at the time, Katie said the couple were the ‘best placed’ members of the royal family to be ‘pillars of support’ for the nation at the moment.

She revealed: ‘We’re seeing William step up in that statesman role. It strikes me as interesting that the first member of the royal family to address the nation has been William.’

Last year, expert Katie Nicholl said Kate Middleton, as well as Prince William, would lead the royal family’s response to the crisis 

The royal expert explained that left Kate and William ‘best placed’ to lead the family’s efforts and support the nation.

Katie revealed: ‘Obviously William and Kate aren’t in the vulnerable sector, therefore they are perhaps the best placed or among the best placed of the royal family to be able to help at the moment.’

Last April, their Royal Foundation site was updated to reveal the couple’s plan to provide ‘practical support’ and help frontline workers with ‘mental health needs’ amid the coronavirus crisis. 

A statement on the couple’s official website at the time detailed how their organisation will ‘do all it can to support those on the frontline of responding to COVID-19 in the UK.’ 

Kate is currently spending the country’s third lockdown at her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall with Prince William and their children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two.

The update detailed the couple’s plans to connect their patronages with charities that can offer practical support for frontline responders, and plans to promote and support mental health charities, as well as ‘thanking and celebrating those working on the frontline’ of the crisis. 

In November, the duchess said she was ‘humbled’ that more than half-a-million people had taken part in her landmark research on the issue of early years.

The study was the largest of its kind in the UK on perceptions of early childhood – which found only one in four people recognise the key importance of the first five years of a child’s life.

Kate – now an HRH and a future Queen consort – is patron of 19 charities and organisations, and has focused her charity work on helping children have the best possible start in life, particularly surrounding their mental health.