The Princess of Wales has said we must prioritise social and emotional skills if we are to thrive, as she continues to raise awareness of the critical importance of early childhood.

Kate, 43, has long supported the development of young children and today her Centre for Early Childhood has published a new framework to increase awareness of and knowledge about social and emotional skills to inspire action across society.

These skills determine how we manage our emotions and thoughts, communicate, and explore the world around us.

The CFEC said: “They are fundamental to our future mental and physical well-being, shaping everything from our ability to form positive relationships to our capacity for learning, working, and coping with adversity.

“They all have their foundations in early childhood and continue to be refined and enhanced throughout our lives.”

The Shaping Us Framework identifies 30 crucial life skills that begin to develop during a child’s first five years and continue to grow throughout our lives.

Next week, the princess will conduct an engagement to launch the first project based on the framework.

“That means taking a profound look at ourselves and our own behaviours, emotions, and feelings,” she writes.

“It means getting much better at acting with compassion and empathy towards one another… better understanding how we can protect and build upon what connects and unites us… and acknowledging that society is something we build together, through the actions we take every day.

“At the heart of all of this is the need for us to develop and nurture a set of social and emotional skills which we must prioritise if we are to thrive.”

The new framework draws on the expertise of academics, clinicians, and practitioners in human development worldwide.

It offers a universal and flexible way to discuss social and emotional skills to supplement existing frameworks.

In her two-page foreword, Kate says the report explains “why early childhood is such a golden opportunity to give the next generation the most positive start in life”.

But she notes that it’s “never too late” to enhance our social and emotional skills.

The CFEC hope the framework will inform conversations between early years practitioners and parents about the development of these skills.

They also suggest it could be used in the workplace for wellbeing programmes, team building, recruitment processes, human resources activities and professional development strategies.

Palace sources have described the early-years campaign as Kate's "life's work".

They added that her interest in early years was not because she is a mother of three children but because she had been struck on visits by how often people's difficulties in areas such as mental health and addiction had their origins in their early years.

Kate continues her gradual, phased return to work, having conducted three public engagements last week.

However, sources caution that the flurry of engagements does not indicate that she has resumed full-time duties.

She will continue to work at her own pace after she revealed last month that she is now in remission from cancer.

It is understood that her engagement promoting the Shaping Us framework will be her only engagement of the week.