The Princess of Wales has launched a new project looking at how time in nature can help babies and young children grow up confident, curious and emotionally secure. Kate Middleton announced it on 16 October in a short video recorded in Cornwall and shared on the official channels of the Prince and Princess of Wales. As Vanity Fair Italia notes, the announcement came quietly, the day after she and Prince William made a private visit to Nansledan, the award-winning sustainable extension of Newquay built on Duchy of Cornwall land.
What the new project will study
The work is being led by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, with the Duchy of Cornwall, the estate William has run since 2022, as a founding partner. According to the Royal Foundation, it will explore how nature-rich surroundings, together with warm and nurturing relationships, help the youngest children build the social and emotional skills that underpin wellbeing for life. Academics, early years practitioners, charities and environmental groups will all be involved, drawing on experience from the UK and abroad.
In the video, the Princess says new research increasingly shows how important nature is for our psychological and physiological wellbeing, and that in a tech-driven, digital age, quality time outdoors has never mattered more. The Independent and BBC News both report her hope that the research will help build supportive environments that make nature more accessible for families across the UK. Vanity Fair Italia also cites a survey commissioned by the Centre: 84 per cent of UK parents questioned believe time in nature helps their children thrive, yet only a third say their children get that chance every day.
A theme years in the making
The project builds on more than a decade of the Princess’s early childhood work. She visited a forest kindergarten in Denmark in 2022 and travelled to Reggio Emilia in Italy earlier this year to see its celebrated child-led approach to learning. Her seasonal nature films have made the outdoors something of a signature, and Kensington Palace marked this launch with three new portraits by the photographer Josh Shinner, showing her relaxed and smiling in the Cornish countryside.
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Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (16 October 2026); The Royal Foundation; The Independent; BBC News.
