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 on Monday, showing the princess in a bakerboy cap, walking near the shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District last month with a group of Scouts from Cumbria and Stretford, Greater Manchester.
The princess was filmed in conversation with chief scout Dwayne Fields as she told him how being outdoors was “so… meaningful for me as a place of balance”.
Kate, who is in remission from cancer, has long advocated the benefits of spending time in the natural world, previously revealing how nature became her family’s “sanctuary” in the wake of her diagnosis and during her chemotherapy treatment.
Fields asked Kate as they walked through woodland: “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?”
The princess replied: “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.”
Kate, in a knitted, roll neck jumper, jacket, matching trousers, and walking boots, is shown crouching down as the youngsters, aged between 10 and 15, crowd round a map on the ground.
The princess said pointing at the map: “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.
Kate, who is joint president of Scouts, was meeting Fields, who took on his role in September, 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.”
Kensington Palace said Kate’s visit to the Lake District, which was not announced at the time, took place in March.
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