Kate Middleton describes feeling 'isolated' as first-time mum while Will was away

The Duchess of Cambridge has revealed she felt "isolated" after having Prince George as the Duke was working night shifts as an RAF pilot.

Kate spoke candidly about her experience as a first-time mum living in Anglesey with a "tiny, tiny baby" during a visit to a children's centre in Cardiff on Wednesday.

After arriving at the centre, Kate said "it was nice to be back in Wales" before telling her hosts: “I will have to remember my Welsh!”

The Ely and Caerau Children’s Centre is located in an economically deprived area of the city and offers a welcoming environment for parents and kids.

Kate said: “If only I had had a centre like this.

"It was the first year and I’d just had George – William was still working with Search and Rescue and we came up here and I had a tiny tiny baby in the middle of Anglesey it was so isolated, so cut off.

"I didn’t have any family around and he was doing night shifts."

During the visit, Kate also mentioned Charlotte and Louis, adding: “We will be taking a trip down to Anglesey at some point.”

Kate spoke to several parents about the centre and the facilities it offers to locals.

Speaking to mum Rhi, 29, who uses the centre with her 11-month-old daughter Eleanor Logue, Kate said: "So many families now are so spread out.

“It’s much harder to rely on other generations for support.”

Rhi told her: “You can come here and tell people, ‘I haven’t slept’."

“And everyone else is like, ‘I haven’t either!’” laughed Kate.

“It normalises it. No one is going to judge you for it. And it’s a social thing for you.”

Afterwards Rhi said: “We talked about post-natal depression and how hard it is to have a kid and how important centres like this are. I would have been in such a dark place without it.

“It’s lovely to see her in a place like Ely. It’s such a deprived area and there have been so many funding cuts. Sometimes you are scared to walk the streets, but coming here you feel safe. You don’t feel like you are going to get mugged.”

In another room, Kate was charmed by 14-month-old Indie Corten-Maynard and one of her two mums Estelle Corten.

Estelle said: “She was asking me what it was like coming here as a same-sex couple and I told her how welcoming the centre has been.

“It was amazing to have the future Queen here in Ely!”

In the English language part of the centre’s bilingual nursery, Kate sat down with older children who were playing with dough and joined them in making doughballs as she was told how the children spend lots of time outdoors.

One little girl told her: “We are talking about your nursery! It’s so cool I would love to come here. What’s your favourite thing about it? Do you like playing outside?”

She then took the little girl by the hand and asked her to show her the outdoor area, stopping to meet the resident guinea pigs Willow and Bella in a wooden hut, appropriately bearing the sign “Cath’s Cottage”

She crouched down to stroke the black-and-white pet, Willow, telling the children: “I had guinea pigs when I was little. I think your nursery is the best. She’s so soft, isn’t she?”

Watching as the children fed them carrots and sprouts, she joked: “I did not know that guinea pigs liked Brussels sprouts!”

Introducing herself to another group of youngsters who were drawing, Kate said: “Nice to meet you, I’m Catherine.

"These guinea pigs are a lot quieter than the ones I had at home!”

She told Carolyn Asante, head of the centre: “They are so happy in there! It’s like their own little world.”

In the centre’s Welsh medium nursery, Kate was presented with flowers and a drawing of herself by four-year-old Erin Jones, who briefly hesitated when prompted to hand them over.

“Are you shy?” asked Naomi Asante Chambers, a senior teaching assistant.

“Don’t worry, I am too,” the Duchess told the little girl.

“Is this my dress?” she asked, pointing at the drawing. “I love your hair, I should have done mine like that today. I love the drawing too, thank you!

"Thank you so much, what a special morning I have had.”

She also joined three-year-old River Roson who was playing with pretend food.

“Are you cooking too? Are you making a stir fry?”

“You’re my friend!” the little boy told her, to which the Duchess replied: “You’re my friend too!”

As she made her way back through the building, Kate was stopped by another little girl who asked her to help clean her hands.

She agreed and Carolyn jokingly quipped: “You’ve got the job! When can you start?”