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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.

She joked the “messier it is, the better the fun” when she joined children playing with clouds of flour. The princess helped them make imaginary cakes with plasticine and flour, and chatted to mothers about her own children.

The princess spoke to sisters Mariam Namakula, 30, and Sumayya Nabatanzi, 28, from Oxford, as their combined five children ran around having fun.

When one of the children injected Kate with a toy syringe, the princess was left with flour on the jacket of her trouser suit and she asked another child “what are you making, are you making a cake? Delicious”.

Ms Namakula said afterwards: “She was enjoying herself with the kids and said ‘the messier it is, the better the fun’. Kate was saying Charlotte enjoys the outdoors and doing activities, and making things and how her kids are growing up fast. She said George is 12 years old and would soon be starting secondary school.”

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.

Victoria Beckham’s brand new Netflix documentary series is designed to promote her fashion business but the show’s editors have cut all the fun out of it

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In high end fashion, as we learn in Victoria Beckham’s Netflix documentary, so much of what is created is down to tiny details.

The precise cut and tailoring of the material before it is worn on the catwalk, counts for everything.

So it is a real shame Victoria’s new three part Netflix series does now share these same skills when it comes to the cutting together and editing of the footage compiled over a year spent with its subject.

It’s pretty clear from watching it that Team VB saw this as a great opportunity to sell the fashion and makeup brands and also tell the business story on their own terms. Yes it had lost millions of pounds but things had changed and the business was now a success.

But it would have been possibly to tell this story with more fun, more laughs, and more of a look back over her life too. The balance is off. Where is the spice and the fun?

Speaking to some Netflix insiders today, I’m led to believe there was plenty of spicy stuff and lots more jokes and light-hearted moments between David and Victoria that were filmed. But they weren’t fashioned into useable segments and instead lie on the cutting room floor.

The choice of talking heads and friends to speak in the film is also telling. Yes, having Vogue megaboss Anna Wintour is great from a fashion point of view and makes sense. But having a number of other fashion faces and no other Spice Girls talking seems odd when you have a three part series about the life of Victoria Beckham. Literally Posh Spice.

This three parter misses the point that viewers want and need to be entertained too. What fans really, really want is some more laughs and nostalgia.

Of course when she promoted this series Victoria said she was “defined by when she was in the Spice Girls” and makes the point it is only four years of her life, whereas her fashion brand is now two decades old. I take this point too. But we could have heard more about family life, child birth, amazing parties they’ve had or milestones in her life.

Even the fashion side of things seemed quite surface level, with the climax of the series around a giant Paris show and the worry it might rain.

I have watched films about the great Lee McQueen and seen how hands on he was with designs and I got a real sense of his genius and how he would get inspiration for designs and then turn them into a reality on the Alexander McQueen catwalks.

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Victoria admits she does not sketch, but it would have been lovely to have been in some meetings where she had an initial idea with her team, and then see some designs were put on paper or a laptop and fabrics discussed before the finished product was on the catwalk. So we could see how she creates her designs and just how hard she works. She and David mention this a lot and I have no doubt Victoria is a grafter like her dad, we just didn’t really see this on screen. We need to see the reality of her still working at 1am or with bags under her eyes after a 14 hour shift reworking a design with her team.

For this series to be a huge success, there was a delicate balance that had to be met between fun and anecdotes at home with the Beckhams, mixed with the story of her fashion business and how it has become a major player with Anna Wintour’s seal of approval. But the editor and executive producers haven’t managed it.

The one positive is after reading the reviews Victoria may want another stab at showing the ‘real’ her and some more humour and fun on screen. Perhaps we will get a third Beckhams doc series from Netflix set in their Cotswold home. I wouldn’t bet against it.

A shopper picked up an ‘old’ box from a charity shop but after taking it home, they were quickly ‘tearing up’ after discovering the touching, handwritten message written on the bottom of it

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A charity shop customer was left “tearing up” after buying a vintage wooden box and discovering a heartfelt, handwritten message penned on its underside. Charity and thrift stores can prove to be goldmines for clothing, keepsakes and personal items, with countless shoppers hunting for affordable yet quality pieces.

One bargain-seeking customer spotted a “well made little box” at a Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) charity shop and was moved by the message scrawled on its base. The shopper feels “honoured” to own it and has vowed to become its “caretaker”.

The customer shared their discovery on Reddit, posting pictures of the box and the poignant, handwritten note, admitting it made them “tear up”. This follows another charity shopper who discovered an old Playboy magazine featuring a Donald Trump interview while they were bargain hunting.

The shopper who discovered the box simply titled their social media post: “Made me tear up”.

In the description below photographs of the piece, they wrote: “Found this at SVDP. It is a beautiful, well made little box. Smells very nice.

“I wish I could find who it belonged to, but sadly there is no identifying information, other than the date of death.”

The inscription on the box’s bottom reads: “This was what Grandma promised you for your birthday. Grandpa, June 17 – 1961”. A further message, penned in different handwriting, reveals: “Grandma passed away March 19, 1961”.

Reddit users were quick to share their thoughts in the comments section. One person said: “I am so glad you found it, I hope you took it home with you.

“I too am a collector of these sorts of memories belonging to others. Personalised notes in books and keepsakes always find their way back to my house.”

The shopper responded: “That I did. I use it to house special, sentimental scraps of things I’ve collected throughout life. It also holds some ashes. It’s a special little box, and I’m honoured to be its caretaker!”

Another person suggested: “The person who was gifted this in 1961 likely kept it her whole life and recently passed herself, probably in her 70s.

“It’s nice that that grandfather’s care lives on.”

A different Reddit user commented: “I think it made it to the right person. You should consider writing down the date and place you got it, and any little tidbits about yourself, and tucking that inside.”

Yet another shared: “Glad you appreciate it. I have pieces of furniture like this with my grandpa’s writing on the underside and I wonder what would happen to it when I’m gone.”

Former James Bond star Daniel Craig was joined by his wife Rachel Weisz on the red carpet for the premiere of the latest Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery film

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Daniel Craig looked worlds away from his James Bond look as he made a rare red carpet appearance with his wife Rachel Weisz. While speculation mounts as to who will replace the 57-year-old star in the iconic franchise, he was focused on his own future.

Daniel and Rachel were on hand to help promote the Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery film that the star is performing in. It’s the latest instalment of the movie series which has seen Daniel star as Benoit Blanc since 2019.

The duo turned up at the red carpet event at the Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall, London, on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, as Daniel showcased his new look.

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He was seen looking loved up with Rachel as she snuggled into him.

Daniel wore a grey tweed double-breasted suit with a light blue shirt. He paired it with a red striped tie as he also showed off his longer locks which were swept to the side.

Fans of the star are used to seeing him with a lot shorter of a hairstyle. But it appears as though he was ready for a change and showed it off at the premiere.

Rachel stunned in a black trouser suit and white shirt combination. The elegant look saw her add black high heels for the occasion.

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Mila Kunis also appeared at the event as she looked amazing in a staples black gown. The former That 70s Show star plays the role of Geraldine Scott in the production.

As is the cause with most of his productions, Hollywood star Daniel has already been winning the plaudits for his latest movie. Ahead of its release, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery bagged a perfect 100 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

And critics have called it “the most intricate mystery of them all” in the series. The Wrap also branded the film a “glorious, goofy gothic horror”.

The outlet’s review went on: “Although Wake Up Dead Man is the Knives Out movie that’s most preoccupied with existential questions surrounding death, writer and director Rian Johnson’s third film in the series is also the one that’s most full of life.”

And the synopsis from IMDB labelled the sequel to 2022’s Glass Onion: “Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet.”

As well as Daniel and Mila, the star-studded cast includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner and Kerry Washington.

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