Kate Middleton has always been the type to get muddy with her children and their dog, Orla, or to happily tend to the family garden. But since she began her cancer treatment, nature has become much more important to her.
In a video released in May 2025, titled “Mother Nature: Spring,” she made it abundantly clear. “Over the past year, nature has been my sanctuary,” she said. For Kate, connecting with the natural world isn’t just a hobby; it’s a way to understand balance, renewal, and resilience.
Interestingly, whenever Kate has had to deliver difficult news, she has always chosen to do so outdoors. When she announced her diagnosis in March 2024, she was sitting in the Windsor gardens, with daffodils in the background. And when she announced she had finished chemotherapy in September 2024, the video showed the family walking through forests, having picnics, and climbing trees.
No formal announcements were made in the palace halls. Katie Nicholl, a royal expert, told OK! that it was very revealing and that Kate has made it clear that nature has been vital to her recovery. “Nature is one of the greatest medicines,” she says.
Kate doesn’t just enjoy this; she lives it to the fullest. She has confessed that she is happiest when she is “with my family outside in the countryside and we’re all filthy dirty.” And she has a rather extreme hobby: ice swimming.
She told Mike Tindall on his podcast, “Cold swimming – the colder, the better.” I absolutely love it. She says it gets to the point where William calls her crazy for going into the water when it’s dark and raining. But that’s just how she is.
She passes that passion on to George, Charlotte, and Louis, who are always outside, no matter the weather. They jump in the dunes, play on the beaches, and roast sausages over campfires. Kate wants her children to remember those moments, not a stressful home where you try to do everything and accomplish nothing.
Furthermore, Kate brings her love of nature to her official work. She is a patron of the Natural History Museum, and in 2025 she visited its new gardens, which are designed to connect children with nature. She is also the first woman to serve as president of the Scout Association since 2020, an organization dedicated to promoting outdoor activities for young people.
In 2023, her three children helped renovate a Scout cabin for the Coronation Big Help Out. Louis even drove an excavator with his dad.
Last year, in a video recorded in the Lake District, Kate shared her heartfelt thoughts about her “spiritual” connection to nature and how it helps her find peace in a busy world. With everything ahead, it’s clear that nature will remain her refuge.