Wrapping up her day in the Italian city, Catherine visited the second municipal pre-school that had adopted the Reggio Emilia approach, the Anna Frank school. At the nursery, which is named after the German-born Jewish girl who famously wrote a diary of her time hiding from the Nazis, Catherine marvelled at the outdoor area that includes a wooden tree house, clay artwork and decorative tree stumps.

Touring the school with Elisa Di Benedetto, a Pedagogista (an educator who helps develop the curriculum), Catherine was led into a classroom to observe a creative session.

Sitting down to join them, Catherine said “ciao” before asking each child what their name was in Italian. She was shown pieces of paper with the children's animal names written on them. The princess quickly spotted that one of them read “Lupo” - wolf in Italian - and said: “That was the name of our dog, our dog was called Lupo.”

Lupo - who died in late 2020 - was a much-loved member of the Prince and Princess of Wales's family, with the couple taking to Instagram to share the sad news of his death. They wrote that he was the "heart of our family", adding that they "miss him so much".

“Oh really, did you know the Italian meaning?” Ms Di Benedetto asked. Nodding and saying “yes” in response, the teacher said: “It must have been a big dog?”

“No, it wasn’t actually,” Catherine said, laughing. “It had a big personality.”

Royal fans were delighted to see the future Queen on an overseas tour and took to social media to praise her interaction with the public.

Writing on X, one user said: “Genuine, warm & loving Catherine, our Princess of Wales.”

Another one wrote: “She's so loved and no one will take that away from her.”