The three gems in Kate's necklace

THE PRINCESS of Wales kept her children close to her heart yesterday as she travelled hundreds of miles from her Windsor home for two engagements that had a family connection.

- By Rebecca Russell

Wearing her favourite gold necklace with George, Charlotte and Louis's initials hanging from it, Kate’s first stop-off was in Sudbury, Suffolk, before heading to Cuxton village in Kent.

In both places, the royal — whose great-grandfather Noel Middleton was director of the family’s textiles firm William Lupton & Co — visited companies that are an integral part of the same industry.

With her lighter-coloured hair glowing in the autumn sunshine, Kate, 43, was greeted at Sudbury Silk Mills by local primary school children waving Union Flags and offering flowers.