“Prince and Princess of Wales return from summer with a rainy but joyful school visit”

The Prince and Princess of Wales made their first public appearance since the summer holidays with a hands-on visit to the Natural History Museum, where a sudden downpour turned the outing into a memorable lesson in kindness.

William and Kate joined a group of children from Kender Primary School in south London, who were visiting the museum’s gardens to study aquatic life. The youngsters were preparing to show the royal couple the creatures they had collected from a large pond when torrential rain interrupted the session.

Kate was seen holding her umbrella over some of the children before urging their teachers: “Let them go in, let’s take them inside, it’s pouring.” Smiling as she helped guide the group into shelter, the Princess of Wales ended up soaked herself but appeared unfazed, laughing with staff and pupils as the rain fell.

Prince William also joined in, gallantly using his umbrella to cover a child and an adult as the group hurried indoors.

Beverley Brown, an assistant head teacher at the school, said the pupils had been buzzing with excitement ahead of the visit. “We’d been waiting for the sessions to start and the children were excited. We went across and as we moved it started to rain. Prince William gallantly held his umbrella over an adult and child, and Princess Kate was in among us,” she said.

The Natural History Museum’s outdoor gardens, which opened in July 2024, are used for teaching, research and recreation. Thursday’s visit was designed to give the children a chance to explore the diversity of pond life, from water insects to plant species, while learning about conservation.

When the weather forced the group indoors, the couple seamlessly joined the children in an impromptu classroom session. The youngsters tried to match preserved specimens—ranging from spiders to grasshoppers and woodlice—to their correct habitats.

Kate joined in with enthusiasm, joking with the children about their choices. When asked where spiders might be found, she smiled and replied, “We decided, we find spiders everywhere.”

Ms Brown said the visit was “a really amazing experience for the children,” who spoke to the royals continuously about their discoveries. “Prince William was laughing because some of the children were making Jenga blocks from the specimens,” she added.

Despite the rain, the visit was marked by laughter, curiosity and genuine engagement from both William and Kate, who took time to chat with the children individually and encourage their explorations.

For the royal couple, the outing signalled the start of a busy autumn of engagements after the summer break. It also offered a glimpse of the down-to-earth warmth that has become their hallmark: Kate happily getting wet to protect children, William sharing laughs over improvised games, and both treating a school science trip with the same seriousness as any state occasion.

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ visit ended with applause from staff and smiles from children—an early reminder, after the break, of the powerful connection the couple maintain with the public through simple, human gestures