Kate's right on screen time – but it's easy for her to say

In a deeply passionate and important essay titled “The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World”, which she wrote with Professor Robert Waldinger of Harvard University, Kate implores us to “look people in the eye and be fully there”, explaining that the “constant distraction” of smartphones and gadgets means “we are withdrawing the basic form of love that human connection requires”.

- CHARLOTTE CRIPPS

“We sit together in the same room while our minds are scattered across dozens of apps, notifications, and feeds. We’re physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us,” she wrote. Gulp!

The piece, published on the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood website this week, certainly hits a raw nerve - even if Kate’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of Sussex, championed the exact same cause in her speech in New York, where she and Prince Harry were named Humanitarians of the Year. I mean, what parent wouldn't descend into a shame spiral and end up with mum guilt after reading it?

On one level, it’s totally relatable. In fact, it sounds like Kate is talking about me on a bad day, when I’m glued to my phone as I’m trying to balance the school drop-off, work, and do an online food shop - all while ignoring my child who is trying to tell me some long-winded story about what slime they want for Christmas.