Kate Middleton has once again brought up a topic many parents try to avoid: at what age should children be given a mobile phone?
In an essay published with Harvard professor Robert Waldinger, the Princess of Wales reflects on the power of human connection in a distracted world. And she speaks from experience, not only as the mother of George, Charlotte, and Louis, but also as an observer of a society increasingly focused on screens rather than on human interaction.
Kate argues that devices, while useful, distract us from what is essential. “We sit together in the same room, but our minds are scattered among dozens of apps and notifications,” she writes. And it’s such a common sight that it’s almost unsettling.
The princess emphasizes that attention and time are the greatest gifts one can offer another human being. Her message isn’t just a critique of mobile phone use; it’s an invitation to rediscover something as simple—and as rare—as genuine presence.
Drawing on her work at the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, Kate emphasizes that early relationships shape our ability to love, connect, and empathize as adults. That’s why she warns of the risk of raising a generation that is “more connected than ever, but more lonely and less prepared to build real connections.”
Rather than a crusade against technology, the princess’s message aims to show that connections are forged by looking into each other’s eyes, not at a screen. And perhaps that’s where true modernity lies: in learning to use technology without letting it rob us of what matters most.