Kate Middleton might be back to work, but she’s ready to switch into mom mode at a moment’s notice.
Princess Kate and Prince William, both 43, visited London’s Natural History Museum on Sept. 4, marking their first royal outing since their summer break. There, they toured the newly transformed gardens and met with schoolchildren using the space as an outdoor classroom.
However, the umbrellas came out when a sudden downpour interrupted the outing. Prince William, Princess Kate, the children and chaperones were spotted huddling under umbrellas to try to stay dry from the rain.
Despite the bad weather, the Princess of Wales smiled and chatted with the children while holding her black umbrella. At one point, Kate was seen helping to bring the children indoors, bending down to keep one girl covered with her umbrella while reaching an arm out to guide her.
Beverley Brown, an assistant headteacher at Kender Primary School, told Hello! that Princess Kate suggested they bring the students indoors.
Brown said, “We had been waiting for the session to start, and the children were very excited. Princess Kate was in amongst us and said, ‘Let them go in,’ and ‘Let’s take them inside, it’s pouring.’ “
Princess Kate — a mom to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who returned to school yesterday after summer break — has spoken openly about her love for spending time outdoors, and she likely didn’t mind some rain during her royal outing — as she previously revealed that she’s a fan of cold swimming, even when the weather isn’t great.
Kate said during a 2023 podcast appearance, “The colder, the better. I absolutely love it. Slightly to the point where William’s like, ‘Catherine, you’re crazy.’ And it’s dark, and it’s raining.”
READ: Family Day Out: The Waleses Attend Summer Church Service Together
The royal has been a longtime advocate of the benefits of spending time outdoors. When Kate and William visited Norway in 2018, they spent time with kindergarten kids who are regularly taught outside in sub-zero temperatures.
The following year, Kate helped design a “Back to Nature” garden for the Chelsea Flower Show in London. The outdoor space was created with help from the Royal Horticultural Society to highlight the benefits of playing outdoors. The garden — which included a treehouse, swing and hollowed-out tree trunk used as a play tunnel — got rave reviews from Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Princess Kate also said in a 2020 chat on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast that she is happiest when “I’m with my family outside in the countryside, and we’re all filthy dirty.”
Nature took on a deeper meaning for the Princess of Wales amid her cancer diagnosis in 2024. In a video shared earlier this year, she said, “Over the past year, nature has been my sanctuary. The natural world’s capacity to inspire us, to nurture us and to help us heal and grow is boundless and has been understood for generations.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ return to royal work after their summer vacation came one day after Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, went back to school. The siblings will spend the year at Lambrook School, their final year attending the same school before George moves on — with Prince William’s alma mater of Eton College seen as the front-runner for where he may attend next.
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