How Kate's own 'early years' in the royal family influenced her fashion choices in landmark project

The Duchess of Cambridge is cementing her future role as Queen Consort through her landmark Early Years project.

The 57-page report by the Royal Foundation – the largest findings on the subject ever conducted in the UK – will inform much of Kate's coming work within the royal family.

She has found her focus: highlighting the importance of the first five years of a child's life, starting from pregnancy.

The duchess was inspired to take charge of the cause when she became aware that many of the problems encountered later in life started during childhood.

It's a topic Kate has been working on since her own 'early years' as a member of the royal family.

And the duchess made a very special nod to that period through her carefully curated outfit choices seen in each of the videos shared by the royal family about the project.

Late last week, the duchess began unveiling the '5 Big Insights' gained from a survey of half a million people across the UK, taken earlier this year.

Each 'insight' is revealed through a video featuring Kate, shared on the Kensington Royal social media pages on Instagram and Twitter.

In her first one – released on Black Friday – the duchess wore a blue dress that she chose for her very first public speech as a senior royal.

It was 2012, at The Treehouse children's hospice in Ipswich, Suffolk. A nervous, but clear speaking Kate, praised the facility as a "a family home, a happy place of stability, support and care". She reportedly wrote the speech herself.

For her own milestone moment, Kate wore the 'Trina' dress by UK high-street brand Reiss, which cost £149 ($270) at the time.

Interestingly, Kate's mother Carole Middleton wore the dress first in 2010 at Royal Ascot.

Kate's deliberate choice to wear that dress for her first 'Early Years' insight shows how much value she places on the importance of family connections and the influence family has on her own life.

Her necklace was another nod to family: the gold Daniela Draper pendant features the initials G, C and L and three stars – representing her children George, Charlotte and Louis.

Kate's other outfit choices in the remaining four 'insight' videos were a mix of affordable pieces she has mostly worn before.

The videos began trickling in on Black Friday, a day when fashion retailers discount their items heavily in a three-day shopping frenzy.

But rather than add fuel to the 'repli-kate' fire  – where royal fashion fans rush out and buy Kate's outfit for themselves, or a cheaper replicated version – the duchess chose no-nonsense pieces long off the market.

Her message was clear: Kate wanted her Early Years project to be the focus, and not her fashion.

The next post featured two photos of Kate wearing a white Zara jacket – first worn in 2012 and last seen in 2016. That same jacket was also worn in 'insight five'.

In Kate's second 'insight' she wore a practical red jumper from Gap.

Her third 'insight' featured just Kate's sleeve but there was no mistaking the polka-dot blouse was her $400 Equipment shirt, worn in September 2019 to visit to a young people's health and development centre.

Insight four saw Kate wear her outdoorsy Alexa Chung for Barbour coat.

Kate re-wore her purple Gucci blouse, which she famously puts on back to front, in a fun question and answer session on social media.

And in her speech on the Early Years findings, the duchess chose her rose pink Marks and Spencer suit, which she has worn twice this year.

The first was in March during a visit to ambulance workers at the beginning of the coronavirus health crisis in the UK and the second was to meet with parents and their children to discuss how they'd coped with the pandemic so far.

Kate knows the power of her fashion choices and the effect they can have.