Kate Middleton shared a never-before-seen photo to highlight an important cause

Kate Middleton shared a never-before-seen family photo over the weekend, to help promote a new campaign close to her heart.

The Princess of Wales posted a photo of herself with her father, Michael Middleton, when she was 5 years old.

She explained why the photo was so meaningful in a rare personal caption on an Instagram post that she signed with a “C” (because her full name is Catherine).

“‘Faces are a baby’s best plaything,'” the royal wrote in a photo she said was taken by her mother, Carole.

“On Tuesday we launched #ShapingUs to raise awareness of the vital role our early years play in shaping the rest of our lives. This weekend, we would like you all to spend some time with your friends, family, colleagues and communities to talk about your early childhood and how it shaped your life.

Before signing off, the royal called on others to share “a photo of you before your fifth birthday to help with those conversations and to share smiles and memories as well.”

Kate officially launched her early years awareness campaign to much fanfare last week and has been busy promoting it through in-person engagements and social media posts. The campaign is part of Kate’s Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, which she founded two years ago.

The campaign’s goal is to make early childhood development “one of the most strategically important issues of our time.”

“How we develop, through our experiences, relationships and environment during our early childhood, fundamentally shapes our entire lives,” the royal said in a statement last week, shared with HuffPost.

“It affects everything from our ability to form relationships and thrive at work, to our mental and physical well-being as adults, and how we raise our own children,” she continued. .

“These are the most preventive years. By focusing our collective time, energy and resources to build a supportive and nurturing world around the youngest members of our society and those who care for them, we can make a huge difference to the health and happiness of generations to come.