Princess of Wales breaks silence on new project praising ‘power of nature’ amid cancer treatment

Kate praised the ‘power of nature’ to ‘keep us physically, mentally and spiritually healthy’

The Princess of Wales has issued a fresh statement on a new project as she gradually returns to royal duties while receiving cancer treatment.

Kate, 42, has scarcely been seen since January after she underwent abdominal surgery and was later diagnosed with an unknown form of cancer.

She has only attended two public engagements in the months since, the first being the Trooping of the Colour parade in June and the second being just days ago, when she presented the Wimbledon men’s final trophy to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

The princess has only made a few public statements since her diagnosis, but shared a heartwarming message of support for a new project launched by the Natural History Museum on Thursday.

The Princess of Wales during the trophy presentation for the Gentlemen’s Singles at Wimbledon last weekend (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

The mother-of-three, who is a patron of the museum, expressed her delight for the opening of the institutions new gardens, saying she knows the “power of nature” to bring joy and help “keep us physically, mentally and spiritually healthy”.

Kate, who is facing ongoing chemotherapy, has long been an advocate of spending time in the natural world and said she hoped the major green space would be “transformative” for the thousands of people who are set to visit.

She said in a message on Kensington Palace’s Instagram stories: “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.

Kate during a visit to the Natural History Museum in 2021 (Geoff Pugh/Daily Telegraph/PA) (PA Archive)

“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 venture in central London contains a brand-new bronze dinosaur – a giant 22-metre-long Diplodocus. (Trustees of the Natural History Museum/PA)

The venture in central London opened to the public on Thursday and aims to support urban nature, scientific research and education and contains a brand-new bronze dinosaur – a giant 22-metre-long Diplodocus.

It features two gardens – the Nature Discovery Garden and the Evolution Garden – over five acres wrapped around the museum’s site in South Kensington and tells the story of the changing natural world.

The new landscape opened as a free-to-visit “outdoor gallery” as well as a “living laboratory” to support nature recovery in the face of climate change, the museum said.

The £25 million project is expected to be one of the most intensively studied urban nature sites globally.