Since the beginning of 2025, Princess Kate has been attending more and more public outings. Her most recent outing to HMP Styal near Wilmslow in Cheshire marked her fifth public engagement in just over two weeks.
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HMP Styal is an all-women's facility and is one of the largest in the UK. The prison has a unit dedicated to new and expectant mothers serving a sentence or on remand.
As a major advocate for early childhood development, the Princess of Wales visited the prison. However, the royal received mixed reactions as she was given a tour of the facility.
Princess Kate visits a women’s prison
As mentioned above, the Princess of Wales was given a tour of HMP Styal near Wilmslow in Cheshire. As reported by The Standard, the facility has a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU), which is run by Action for Children, a charity that Princess Kate supports as a royal patron.
The prison has a separate area for new and expectant mothers, and they receive parenting support from trained prison staff and early years practitioners, per Sky News.
The prison’s main goal is to establish and maintain a strong bond between the mothers and their children. This aligns with various studies and evidence that a key psychological bond occurs between babies and their main caregiver in the early stages of life, which can have an impact on their later development.
Princess Kate received mixed reactions from the prison
Princess Kate was given a tour of the MBU by prison governor Nicky Hargreaves. As they walked through the unit, many of the women inmates leant out of their windows to get a look at their royal visitor.
However, not all of the inmates were pleased by Princess Kate, and wolf-whistles and cat-calls were heard, with some shouting demands at the Princess.
We need more funding. Tell them the truth!
While Kate's visit riled up some inmates, others were open to share their stories with her. One mother had left the unit six weeks prior with her toddler son after serving a 14-month sentence. She revealed that she is only just ‘getting rolling with everything again’ and explained that she thinks the prison’s nursery is ‘hands down the best nursery.’
I only left six weeks ago, and I am just getting rolling with everything again. Thinking about work, nurseries. I have said so many times that I just wish I could take this (prison) nursery and put it in my home town.
It’s hands down the best nursery. My son just ran up to the nursery worker straight away and recognised her just now.
Another woman was 30 weeks pregnant when her 11-month sentence started; she has since given birth to her daughter inside the prison. Sheexplained that she only received ‘so much’ help when she was sent to prison, admitting she wouldn’t have received the necessary support in her local community. Princess Kate agreed this shouldn’t be the case, as per Mirror:
It shouldn’t have to take something like this to get access to something like this…
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Sources used:
Sky News: ‘Kate met by shouts of 'we need more funding' as she visits women's prison’
The Standard: ‘Kate, Princess of Wales, visits women’s prison to meet inmates using mother and baby unit’
Mirror: ‘Kate Middleton shouted at by prisoners with urgent demands as she meets inmates’
