The Princess of Wales has today said ‘spending quality time outdoors has never been more important’ in a poignant message to parents.
Kate, 44, spoke from the heart about her lifelong initiative to better the lives of young children – urging parents to get youngsters to put down their phones and enjoy the great outdoors.
‘Nature is such an extraordinary environment for us all and, in this tech-driven, digital age, spending quality time outdoors has never been more important,’ the future queen said in a video shared to the couple’s official Instagram.
Kensington Palace also released a new series of portraits of Kate in the countryside taken by Josh Shinner.
The princess looked radiant in her favourite wax jacket, under which she wore a patterned jumper and pie-frill blouse. Her hair was styled in loose waves.
The video was filmed yesterday in Cornwall with the support of the Prince of Wales. Given he runs The Duchy of Cornwall, Prince William is said to be taking a keen interest in the project.
The long-planned filming took place while the prince’s estranged brother, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, loudly launched themselves as a couple back in Britain.
The Princess of Wales has today said ‘spending quality time outdoors has never been more important’ in a poignant message to parents
Kate, 44, spoke from the heart about her lifelong initiative to better the lives of young children – urging parents to get youngsters to put down their phones and enjoy the great outdoors
It will be seen as proof, if it were ever needed, of how William and Catherine are just quietly getting on with their work and issues that are important to them while blocking out the Sussex ‘noise’.
The future queen’s new project will see The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood explore how nature can support social and emotional development in babies and young children – the basis of lifelong wellbeing.
Their work will bring together evidence, expertise and practical experience from around the UK and the world to better understand how nature-rich environments help nurture confident, curious, creative and emotionally healthy children with the help of academics, early years practitioners, charities and environmental organisations.
It will also take existing developmental science and explore how it can be applied more ambitiously and effectively through nature-based settings.
The video sees her outline her vision for the work and explain why this area is so important.
She says: ‘New scientific research increasingly shows just how important nature is for our psychological and physiological wellbeing.
‘Nature is such an extraordinary environment for us all and, in this tech-driven, digital age, spending quality time outdoors has never been more important.
‘This project is about exploring how nature, creativity and relationships can best support the healthy development of babies and young children.
‘We believe that taking a whole-child approach is important, and nature becomes a wonderful place to explore how we can successfully nurture the social and emotional skills that underpin lifelong health and wellbeing.’
She adds: ‘My hope is that through this practical, nature-based research, we can build supportive environments that help make nature more accessible, benefiting babies, young children and their families across the UK.’
The Princess of Wales looked radiant in her favourite wax jacket, under which she wore a patterned jumper and pie-frill blouse
The announcement comes as new polling, commissioned by the Centre, shows that 84 per cent of parents agree that spending time in nature helps their child’s wellbeing and development, while only 33 per cent report their child actually spends time in nature every day.
Over 60 per cent want their child to spend more time in nature overall and 56 per cent want more nature-based experiences through childcare and education.
Both the princess and her husband have spoken previously of their frustration at the way digital technology is taking over the lives of young people at the expense of life-enhancing play and social interaction.
William has revealed that so far they have banned their own three children from having phones although they conceded that their eldest, Prince George, 13, would be given one when he enrolled as a boarder at Eton.
Today’s announcement represents the next step in The Princess of Wales’s longstanding work on early childhood and social and emotional development, building on her exploration of the role that relationships, environments and experiences play in children’s development.
This has included her visit to a forest kindergarten in Denmark in 2022, where she saw first-hand how outdoor learning environments can support young children’s development, and, more recently, her visit to Reggio Emilia in Italy.
The new work also builds on themes the princess has increasingly spoken about publicly, including the importance of nature, creativity, connection and belonging in helping children and communities thrive.
Her Mother Nature film series explored these themes through personal reflections on the power of nature to nurture, restore and inspire, and its ability to help us reconnect with ourselves, with one another and with something larger than ourselves.
It also follows her recent essay, Creating the Conditions for Love to Flourish Through Nature & Creativity, in which she reflected on the importance of creating the conditions in which people, and particularly children, can flourish.
Drawing on her experiences in Italy, she explored how healthy development is shaped through relationships with people and places, and how nature provides one of the most inspiring environments for children to explore, connect and grow.
The Centre’s Shaping Us Framework and Foundations for Life Guide provide the evidence-based science underpinning this work, highlighting the importance of the social and emotional skills that shape who we are, how we manage our emotions and thoughts, how we communicate and relate to others, and how we explore the world.
