Royal correspondent
PA MediaThe Princess of Wales has visited a women’s prison in Cheshire, where she talked to inmates in a mother-and-baby unit.
On a visit to HMP Styal, in Wilmslow, Catherine was shown a project designed to forge strong and healthy relationships between mothers and babies “even in the most challenging of environments”.
The princess, in contrast to more glamorous royal engagements, stepped through the security gates in the rain, ahead of a tour of the prison, which holds about 400 inmates, some serving life sentences.
While there, she met specialist staff supporting new mothers, and visited a nursery for babies who will have to spend their first formative months inside a jail.
ReutersOn her fourth official visit to a prison, the princess met women being supported by the Action for Children charity, which runs mother-and-baby units in three prisons in the north of England.
The prison hopes that helping new mothers build a strong family connection with their newborns while in jail will reduce the risk of reoffending when inmates are released.
The princess has a strong interest in early years education, as set out in her Shaping Us initiative, which emphasises the importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
Tuesday’s visit to HMP Styal continues this campaign to raise awareness of those early years.
It is the latest in a series of engagements this year, as the princess returns to work after the end of her cancer treatment.
The unit at HMP Styal provides a dedicated area for new and expectant mothers, allowing them to live separately from other inmates. There is nursing care and support for both the mothers and their babies – who may spend their first 18 months in prison.
As well as meeting current prisoners, Catherine met staff and former residents to hear about the long-term impact of such care.
Figures from the Ministry of Justice estimate that there are about 200,000 children in England and Wales with a parent, either a mother or father, in prison.
There has often been attention on what the princess is wearing, with interest in her fashion choices – and it’s been clarified by Kensington Palace aides that there is no change in the policy of sometimes publishing details of her clothing, and sometimes not commenting.
