Prince Louis uses a "feelings wheel" to help describe his emotions.

The five-year-old royal's mother, Catherine, Princess of Wales, told how her son's school, Lambrook in Berkshire, have been engaging in discussions about mental health with even the youngest classes and praised how helpful the initiative is.

Speaking to host Fearne Cotton ahead of her keynote speech at the Shaping Us National Symposium in London on Wednesday (15.11.23), she said: "Louis’ class, they came back with a feelings wheel — it's really good. These are 5 or 6-year-olds and going with names or pictures of a color that represents how they feel that day, so there is a real keenness in school particularly to get involved in conversations.

"It's actually helping continuity across the board and then how does that feed into you, with your mental health — it's same conversation, so to be able to find a bit of framework to talk about this, is very important.

Catherine unveiled the results of an international study - which involved 110 experts from 21 countries - and insisted nurturing social and emotional skills was “just as valuable to our long-term success as reading, writing or arithmetic”.

And she said: "When I have asked many individuals, whose lives have reached crisis point; in prison rehabilitation programmes, addiction recovery centres, or those affected by homelessness; what would make the biggest difference in preventing similar pathways for future generations, they often talk about providing safety, belonging and love in early childhood.

"It is human nature to strive for these things. We feel this innately and instinctively. But for too many of us, at too many times in our lives, these basic human needs go unanswered. There is a disconnect.

"Somehow these deep-rooted needs aren’t always met by the societies we are creating, and the effects are evident all around us – with poor mental health, anxiety, depression, abuse, and addiction all too common."

The 41-year-old royal - who also has 10-year-old Prince George and eight-year-old Priness Charlotte with husband Prince William - stressed how much she cares "deeply about making a positive difference" to "the most vulnerable".

She said: "This is not just about the youngest children in our society, who are, by their very nature, vulnerable. It is also about the many young people and adults who are suffering.

"We must do more than simply meet the short term needs of these individuals. We must also look at creating long term, preventative change. And that takes us right back to the beginning."