The China Mail - Princess Catherine wraps up Italy visit with pasta class

Catherine prepared "tortelli" -- a regional speciality similar to ravioli -- at a farmhouse hotel near the city of Reggio Emilia.

Looking a bit unsure of herself, the Princess of Wales kneaded the dough, applied a filling and cut out the pasta shapes as Ivan Lampredi, a chef, assisted her.

"Sorry, I'm very slow," she could be heard saying at one point.

"Don't worry," Lampredi later told her as she cut the pasta.

Earlier in the day, she visited an Italian preschool practising nature-based learning and a centre to teach children about recycling.

The visit by the Princess of Wales, whose husband Prince William is the heir to the British throne, was focused on early years education.

The subject is close to the princess's heart as a mother of three children -- George, 12, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight.

Kate, as she is widely known, was greeted by hundreds of cheering onlookers in Reggio Emilia at the start of her visit on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old's last official trip abroad was in December 2022 when she travelled to Boston with William for the awarding of the environmental Earthshot prize.

She announced in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, without revealing which type, and said that she had begun chemotherapy.

In January 2025 she said she was in remission from cancer, and since then she has been gradually returning to public royal duties.

She set up the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021, working to highlight the importance of a child's early years.

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