Princess Kate has described how she feels a “very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection” when surrounded by nature.
In a video released by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales’ visit with a group of Scouts from the north west last month, the 43-year-old also said nature gives her a “sense of peace” in a “very busy world”.
Kate, who is in remission from cancer, can be seen in a bakerboy cap, walking near the shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District with the groups of Scouts from Cumbria and Stretford, Greater Manchester.
While talking to chief scout Dwayne Fields, the princess described how being outdoors was “so… meaningful for me as a place of balance”.
Kate 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.
In March last year, Kate announced she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and was undergoing preventative treatment.
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After a period away from the public eye, Kate said in November she had finished chemotherapy and was “focused on staying cancer free”.
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Mr 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.”
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Kate is then shown crouching down as the youngsters, aged between 10 and 15, crowd round a map on the ground.
Pointing at the map, the princess says: “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.
Kate, who is joint president of Scouts, was meeting Mr Fields, who took on his role in September, for the first time.
