The Princess of Wales has described how she experiences a “very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection” when spending time in nature, giving her a “sense of peace” in a “very busy world”.
Kensington Palace posted a new video of Kate, showing the princess walking near the shores of Windermere in the Lake District with a group of Scouts from Cumbria and Greater Manchester.
The princess was filmed in conversation with chief scout Dwayne Fields as she told him how being outdoors was “meaningful for me as a place of balance”.
Kate is in remission from cancer and has long advocated the benefits of spending time outside, previously revealing how nature became her family’s “sanctuary” after he diagnosis and during chemotherapy.
Kate Middleton with UK Chief Scout Dwayne Fields near Windermere in the Lake District. Credit: PA Images
In the video, which was filmed in March, Fields asks: “When you come out here, when all the stresses and strains of regular life happen and you come into a space like this, what do you think about?”
Kate replies: “I find it a very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection I suppose, these environments.
“Not everyone has that same relationship perhaps with nature, but it is so therefore meaningful for me as a place to balance and find a sort of sense of peace and reconnection in what is otherwise a very busy world.”
Kensington Palace posted the video of the Princess with a group of scouts
Kate is shown crouching down as the youngsters, aged between 10 and 15, crowd round a map on the ground.
Pointing at the map, she said: “It’s so beautiful because so many of the walks here, you can see Lake Windermere because it’s huge isn’t it? Look how hilly it is in here. Have you done any of these big mountains?”
She was also photographed standing and laughing with the Scouts while they sat eating ice-creams at a picnic table at the edge of the lake, which is England’s largest.
The Princess of Wales says nature became her sanctuary when she was diagnosed with cancer. Credit: PA Images
The princess is joint president of Scouts and was meeting Fields, who has only been in the role for six months, for the first time.
She told him: “What’s so fantastic about the Scouts is that the same foundation has sort of always been there, and still, despite how different the modern-day world is now, actually it still resonates with so many young people and it’s making such a massive difference to them.”
Fields said: “When you come out into a natural environment, it helps you understand your self that much more.
“We really belong in nature. We’re in tune with it and I think we need to come back to it because there is definitely something about being in nature that’s connected to our wellbeing.”
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