Princess Kate has issued a new statement hailing the ‘power of nature’ in supporting ‘wellbeing’ as she continues her cancer treatment.
Princess Kate, 42, in a series of Instagram stories today, shared how she was ‘hugely supportive’ of the Natural History Museum and the opening of its new gardens.
The central London museum today opened a free-to-visit ‘outdoor gallery’ as well as a ‘living laboratory’ to support nature recovery in the face of climate change.
Five acres wrapping around the building in South Kensington have been transformed into two gardens – the Nature Discovery Garden and the Evolution Garden, which tell the story of the changing natural world.
The uplifting post comes after Princess Kate, who has stepped away from public royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment, made her second public appearance of the year on Sunday when she attended Wimbledon to watch the Grand Slam final from the Royal Box.
The Natural History Museum has opened the major green space, complete with a huge brand-new bronze dinosaur, to support urban nature, scientific research and education.
‘I am hugely supportive of the Museum’s commitment to create a special space which encourages people of all ages to reconnect with nature and learn more about how we can protect our natural world,’ Princess Kate wrote on Instagram today.
‘I know the power of nature to support our development and wellbeing, both by bringing us joy and helping to keep us physically, mentally and spiritually healthy.
‘I hope these gardens will be inspiring and transformative for the thousands of people who visit.’
The supportive post featured footage of Kate’s visit to the museum three years ago during which she took a tour of the Natural History Museum’s wildlife gardens and met local school children.
She also met with Museum Director Dr Doug Gurr, who explained project would be helping people to reconnect with the natural world and find the solutions urgently needed to protect the planet’s future.
But before the mother-daughter duo took their seats in the Royal Box, they met with female tennis stars, including 21-year-old Emma Radacanu, who all presented Kate with a bouquet of flowers .
Charlotte grinned from ear to ear as she met with the tennis star, who sadly saw her Wimbledon dream crushed on Centre Court by New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun last week.
The daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales was thrilled to meet the tennis star, and photographed smiling ear to ear in her presence.
The mother and daughter then met the ‘Work at Wimbledon’ programme which supports young people from a range of backgrounds with roles at the Championships.
Kate’s attendance at Wimbledon on Sunday marked the first time the mother-of-three officially appeared in public since her last outing at Trooping the Colour last month.
Many A-listers and members of the Royal Family have made appearances in the Royal Box over the years, including the late Queen Elizabeth, Meghan Markle and Queen Camilla.
This year, Kate’s parents Carole and Michael have watched on from the box, as well as Queen Camilla and Princess Beatrice.
The Princess of Wales announced that she had cancer in March and has since being undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Kate has shown her love for sports time and time again with numerous appearances at Wimbledon and various charity events.
Last week, the Princess paid tribute to Andy Murray’s ‘incredible Wimbledon career’ as the tennis star is said to be ‘absolutely devastated’ after Emma Raducanu pulled out of their doubles match.
The Natural History Museum on Tuesday celebrated the completion of the garden project by unveiling the new bronze Diplodocus, named ‘Fern’ by local school children, in the Jurassic landscape of the Evolution Garden.
The Nature Discovery Garden was also revealed as a space for visitors and scientists to learn about the biodiversity that can be found in the UK’s urban spaces.
Dr Gurr called it ‘a national learning, science and public engagement initiative to make our towns and cities healthier and more sustainable places to live’.
The £25 million project is expected to be one of the most intensively studied urban nature sites globally.
Delivering a speech in the gardens on Tuesday, the museum director said: ‘Today is just the start.
‘Over the coming months and years, the nature here will flourish and grow, the scientific understanding will grow and millions and millions of young people will have the opportunity to reconnect with nature, to participate in new outdoor workshops and engage in the all-important work of understanding how nature recovery begins on our doorsteps.’
Visitors can explore natural history dating back 2.7 billion years in the Evolution Garden, told through the immersive timeline of plants and rocks of different geological periods from across the UK.
As they move into the present day and Anthropocene period, the paving stones are embedded with crushed glass, pottery and even a piece of plastic to show humanity’s growing impact on the natural world.
The garden also includes a second bronze dinosaur at Fern’s side – a Hypsilophodon, which was native to the UK.
In the Nature Discovery Garden, the network of ponds and vegetation is already teeming with toad tadpoles, baby frogs, newts, mandarin ducks, dragonflies, lily pads and duckweed.
The team has also built a nature activity centre in the garden that combines facilities for scientific work, a training space for future urban ecologists and a hub for school workshops.
Scientists will collect ‘eDNA samples’ of wildlife in the gardens and monitor how this changes over time.
network of 25 scientific sensors will also gather environmental and acoustic data – such as underwater recordings in the pond, the buzz of insect wings and bird calls to traffic noise – to help them understand how urban nature is changing and what can be done to support its recovery.
The museum’s new ‘Data Ecosystem’ will help its scientists to collect, enrich and share multiple biodiversity data types alongside environmental data such as water chemistry, rapidly and accurately, from a range of sources.
The Urban Nature Project was funded by a range of trusts, foundations and companies as well as individuals including Amazon Web Services, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Evolution Education Trust, The Cadogan Charity and Garfield Weston Foundation.