The Princess of Wales talked about her ‘innate desire’ to be out in nature during a mindfulness walk in the Peak District.
Catherine spoke about the perspective she gains from visiting the great outdoors during the walk with Mind Over Mountains, which offers mental health support through outside experiences.
Wearing sturdy boots, gloves and a plait in her hair – which she did herself under a baker boy hat – the Princess spent 45 minutes in freezing, wet conditions walking to and from Baslow Edge in the Peak District, at around 300m altitude.
She stopped to see the spectacular view over the Derwent and Hope Valleys, with a brief pause in the rain timed perfectly for the short hike.
The charity organises mental health walks, complete with qualified counsellors and mindfulness coaches to help people connect with their surroundings while talking about their feelings and experiences.
The Princess, who had made a point of checking whether participants still wanted to go ahead in challenging weather conditions, said ‘nothing’ would have stopped her getting out into the hills.
She has spoken regularly about the importance of the natural world in her life, including her own cancer journey and continuing recovery after chemotherapy.
After setting off through mud and puddles, the walking group paused for a short mindfulness session in which they were instructed to feel their feet on the ground and notice their bodies.
The Princess of Wales joined a wellbeing walk in the Peak District with Mind Over Mountains, which offers mental health support through outdoor experiences
She wore practical walking boots, trousers, a wax jacket and a newsboy-style cap for her walk in the hills – even putting her hair in a plait
The instuctor joked that it was sometimes considered ‘a bit woo’ as the Princess smiled and joined in.
Asked as part of the group activity for ‘three words’ which summed up her experience, the Princess offered: ‘Mind, body and soul.’
Gesturing the view, she said the afternoon walk – and others like it – had made her ‘realise the world is so much bigger’, noting ‘you get so dragged into things’ and sometimes need to pause to notice the wider world outside.
The ‘science and research’, she said, now supports people’s ‘innate desire to be outdoors’ in terms of its benefits for health and wellbeing.
‘It’s that connection with nature,’ she said, adding that she would love to bring ‘the kids’ up.
‘It’s so valuable but sometimes we take it for granted,’ she added.
‘The more communities who have this project, the better.’
Arriving in the Culvar Valley car park, she told fellow walkers: ‘I asked the team to check that everyone was still up for it. I was up for it. Nothing’s going to stop us!’
During the walk, most of which took place away from the cameras, she took turns speaking to each walker to hear their mental health story.
The charity organises several walks each month in the Peak District, Lake District, Wales and Chilterns, with around 16 participants joining a qualified counsellor and mindfulness coach.
‘There needs to be more like this,’ said the Princess, offering to do what she could to help. ‘It’s a fantastic initiative, people would really benefit from it.’
Kate greets members of the public and is seen with flowers as she leaves Wakefield rugby club today
Kate, patron of Family Action, teaches a young girl how to hear the sea in a shell during a visit to the charity’s Children’s Trauma Therapy Service in Bradford
The Princess of Wales waves as she arrives at Wakefield Trinity Stadium on January 27, 2026
Bidding farewell to walkers, she asked them to keep in touch with how they were getting on.
‘It’s so nice to be able to get out,’ she told them. ‘I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now go and have a nice cup of tea!’
Earlier, the Princess displayed her caring side again as she showed a young girl at a trauma therapy centre how to hear the sea in a shell – before joining teenage girls for rugby drills.
Kate spoke to therapists at Family Action in Bradford this morning, a charity which helps children and their families recover from complex trauma.
She also joined creative therapy sessions – talking to children about collage trees and wish boxes – to understand how the use of play can be a vehicle for healing.
Kate spent the day visiting several organisations in the North of England to highlight the power of creativity, community and nature for those who have experienced trauma, isolation and poor mental health.
She has long championed mental health causes and emphasised how nature had helped her ‘heal’ from cancer treatment in a video series most recently released on her 44th birthday.
Her engagements across the North also saw her visit Wakefield Trinity’s ground, where she praised the club’s ‘gold dust’ support for its local community.
At the club, she met schoolgirls being put through their rugby paces, pensioners taking part in a quiz and teenagers at risk of being excluded from school.
The future queen, who is patron of the Rugby Football League, was wearing a smart jacket and trousers for the visit.
The Princess was dressed for the weather as she joined the hill walk, which came in the hours after Storm Chandra hit Britain
Kate headed out to the pitch to join a skills session with girls from Wakefield’s Champion schools competition
She could barely conceal her smile as she chatted with teenagers taking part in the contest – opting not to take part in the drills in her smart jacket and trousers
This meant her participation was limited to chatting to girls during a break from their skills session for Wakefield’s Champion Schools competition – rather than getting stuck into the drills themselves.
Kate was quizzed about Princess Charlotte’s school activities as she stood beside the pitch in freezing temperatures, telling the young players: ‘She does loads of sport but not rugby.’
She also joked with the group about the physicality of rugby league, saying: ‘There’s not any other sport when you can say contact is a good thing.’
During the visit Kate sat down with a group of Wakefield supporters aged from their 60s to their 90s who are regulars at In Touch events run by Wakefield Trinity’s Community Foundation, the Super League club’s charitable arm.
The sessions help elderly people at risk of loneliness to socialise.
The Princess told them: ‘I love this, the league game is so embedded in community life and it’s so grassroots (and) interaction, and getting youngsters involved but also how clubs like this connect to the rest of the community.
‘They’re absolute gold dust really, and I’m so proud to help support the league across the country.’
She was even given a Wakefield shirt, prompting captain – and England player – Mike McMeeken to joke: ‘Now she has a Wakefield Trinity shirt she is an honorary member of the club!’
The day began with the visit to Family Action, of which she is a patron.
The Princess waves to Royal fans as she leaves Wakefield Trinity Rugby League club on January 27, 2026
Kate joined creative therapy sessions at the centre in Bradford where she spoke to children about collage trees and wish boxes
The Princess is visiting organisations in the North of England to highlight the power of creativity, community and nature
The charity provides practical, emotional, and financial support to families who are facing poverty, disadvantage, and isolation nationwide.
Their children’s trauma therapy service in Bradford works with children who have experienced abuse, neglect or a traumatic bereavement.
She said to staff at the centre: ‘It’s probably been a lifeline for them in so many ways and being able to extend that umbilical cord support – the fact that you’re able to continue that relationship with them.’
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Kate joined a therapy session for a mother and her 12-year-old son who had been colouring in leaves to put on a collage tree, designed to help children illustrate their feelings and discuss their therapy journey.
The boy said how music had helped him process difficult emotions and that he now played drums in a band.
Kate said: ‘That’s a fantastic way to sort of express yourself and also manage really difficult and hard feelings that are sometimes harder to express with words than in any other way.’
She asked if he had ever thought he would play in a band.
He replied: ‘No. If you said it to me three years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you because I wouldn’t have thought I had the attention span for it.’
Kate then met a mother and her five-year-old daughter who were decorating a box of wishes, in which they had added items to help them express their feelings.
The princess greeted the girl by crouching down and holding her hand, before complimenting her leopard print dress.
‘I like your dress. That’s a pretty dress and your shoes, I have boots like that but they don’t have glitter on sadly. Are they your favourite boots?’ she said.
Kate talks to a girl who was decorating a box and filling it with items, including a shell. The Princess of Wales said to her: ‘Sometimes when you put it to your ear, you can hear waves. That’s what I like doing with shells’
Kate joined a therapy session for a mother and her 12-year-old son who had been colouring in leaves to put on a collage tree
The Princess greeted a girl by crouching down and holding her hand, before complimenting her leopard print dress
The girl had put a small pot of glitter and water into the box, which she called her ‘potion’.
Asked what the potion did, she said ‘it keeps away the bad dreams’. Kate told the girl’s mother that ‘lots of people need more of these’.
The girl had also put in a feather – which, her therapist said was to keep her ‘busy head’ ‘nice and calm’ – as well as two shells in the box.
Kate said to her: ‘Sometimes when you put it to your ear, you can hear waves. That’s what I like doing with shells.’
She then asked: ‘Have you enjoyed coming here to do these things with mummy? What have you enjoyed about it?
‘Is it being able to play together? And talk about some of the things that you find difficult?’
Later, the girl’s mother joked: ‘I think she was more excited about seeing Esther [her therapist].’
Kate clutches a bouquet of flowers as she greets Royal fans during a visit to Wakefield Trinity Stadium. The princess is Patron of the Rugby Football League
Kate was at the club to learn about its extensive outreach programmes, which bring generations together, tackle loneliness, and provide meaningful support for individuals experiencing isolation within the community
Kate is pictured walking into the stadium with RFL’s Director of Performance and Development Marc Lovering
The Princess sits in the dugout alongside a group of schoolboys during a visit to Wakefield Trinity Stadium
Catherine is pictured here sat longside Molly Fox, the wife of Wakefield Trinity legend Peter Fox
Stuart Murray-Borbjerg, senior therapist, said of Princess Kate: ‘She seemed genuinely interested to hear about the family’s experience of the service and the impact of it.’
He explained the importance of ‘non-verbal approaches to therapy’ using tools like art, music and movement to express feelings when language fails.
‘Something that’s lost through traumatic experiences is that sense of playfulness and joy which just comes back when you’re making music or you’re drawing together,’ he said.
‘[It’s] something the princess said too – that kind of gets lost as adults but George keeps her playful. I think she said one [of her children] plays the guitar and one plays the drums.’
