Kate Middleton beams on surprise outing after issuing urgent warning on family life

The Princess of Wales has made a surprise visit to a play session with young children after sending a warning about how smartphones and other gadgets are harming family life.

Kate's outing at Home-Start in Oxford today comes just hours after she warned about the "epidemic of disconnection" created by smart phones and other gadgets and urged society to "invest in the relationships you have with each other". During the visit, Kate, dressed in an olive Victoria Beckham suit, met volunteers at the service, which provides support to parents, as well as the parents themselves and their youngsters. She even joined them for a stay and play session where she crouched down to join the children for messy play and sweetly let one little girl smell a rose.

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Kate's outing today came after she aired her concerns about the problems posed by modern technology at the expense of family life in an essay written in collaboration with Professor Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development.

Focusing on good connections with family and friends was the key to a healthy and happy life, said the princess, who took the lead in the article, and helping children develop "strong social and emotional skills" would equip them to maintain positive relationships for decades.

The major article appears to set out much of the future queen's thinking on the early years development of children, said to be an important element of her life's work, and comes after Prince William gave a groundbreaking interview last week saying he would "change" the monarchy when he becomes king.

"We live increasingly lonelier lives, which research shows is toxic to human health, and it's our young people (aged 16 to 24) that report being the loneliest of all, the very generation that should be forming the relationships that will sustain them throughout life," wrote the princess and the professor.

They added: "While new technology has many benefits, we must also acknowledge that it plays a complex and often troubling role in this epidemic of disconnection. While digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite.

"Our smartphones, tablets, and computers have become sources of constant distraction, fragmenting our focus and preventing us from giving others the undivided attention that relationships require.

"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."

Kate also spoke about the importance of spaces to connect like at meal times, echoing the words of William who said in his major interview the couple always have dinner around the table with their three children. He also said they had a strict rule and banned Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis from having mobile phones.