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William and Kate arrive at the Natural History Museum
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Kate Middleton visits the Natural History Museum
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Princess Kate's new sun-soaked locks weren’t enough to keep away the rain yesterday, as she was forced to abandon a series of outdoor activities with some schoolchildren due to a torrential downpour. The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington on Thursday morning to bright sunshine, but the autumn weather failed to hold out as the heavens opened some 15 minutes after they arrived.
The royal couple had just joined some children taking part in “pond dipping”, searching for newts and toads, when heavy rain fell from the sky, prompting them to head inside. Kate, who studied art history at university and has been patron of the London attraction since 2013, was met by Dr Sandy Knapp, a plant taxonomist at the Museum and said, "Sorry it's been such a long time for me to come back."
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The visit marked the royal couple’s first engagement since the summer holidays, and after some time in the sunshine, they both appeared to have a golden glow.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting the Natural History Museum (Image: PA)
The Princess showed off her new sun-kissed hair, appearing to have swapped her trademark chestnut-brown hair for a lighter caramel blonde colour.
It is understood that the sun naturally lightened her hair, and Kate has decided to embrace the lighter hue by asking her stylist to enhance the colour with balayage - a technique for creating a graduated, natural-looking colour where the roots are left untouched.
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Kate and William posed for photos on the museum's steps before greeting visitors queueing to get inside. One overeager youngster was delighted to receive a high-five from the princess.
Just as they arrived at the Nature Discovery Garden to observe some pond dipping, a deluge of rain soaked the couple and a group of children from Kender Primary School in New Cross.
Kate and William shared their umbrellas with their hosts before calling off the outside activity and ushering the children into the dry at the nearby Nature Activity Centre.
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The princess led several children, while William helped control the rear as the youngsters splashed in puddles while they tried to stay out of the rain.
Beverley Brown, 44, assistant headteacher at Kender Primary School, said: "We had been waiting for the session to start and the children were very excited.
"As we started to move it started to pour and we didn't know what to do. Prince William gallantly held an umbrella over an adult and children. Princess Kate was in amongst us and said 'let them go in' and 'lets take them inside, it's pouring."
Inside, they attempted to dry off before getting stuck into a workshop helping the children identify animals encased in blocks and find their regular habitat.
Kate, who has visible rain marks on her green blazer jacket, also joined William who was busy chatting to pupils and teachers from the Co-op Academy, in Manchester.
Princess Kate lightened her hair over the summer (Image: PA)
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The school has been creating new habitats on their school grounds through the National Education Nature Park programme.
They take part in classes aimed at connecting with nature and helping to boost biodiversity in urban areas.
Sitting down in the activity centre, Kate said: "Sorry we are a bit wet. It was nice and dry and then suddenly within seconds, it was such a lovely day."
William laughed as he added: "But it's nature, in amongst nature."
The school has created a vertical garden, which has dramatically cooledthe temperature in a classroom which used to be unbearably warm.
Unfortunately the heavens have opened… ？
But the Prince and Princess are carrying on deterred by the torrential downpour (even if the schoolchildren aren’t quite so happy by the change in weather) pic.twitter.com/p2PMZwCCAe
— Emily Ferguson (@emilyinpalace) September 4, 2025
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Princess Kate shelters under an umbrella (Image: PA)
William and Kate were meant to be visiting the Museum’s newly transformed gardens before rain stopped play.
It comes after Kate has spoken about how getting back to nature has helped with her cancer recovery.
The gardens and National Education Nature Park programme are part of the Natural History Museum’s ambitious Urban Nature Movement.
They opened in 2024 and also act as a living laboratory, where visitors and scientists can identify and monitor wildlife in an urban environment.
The gardens and Nature Park Programme also serve to encourage people to spend more time in nature through hands-on activities and by highlighting the accessibility of nature in urban settings.
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Since opening in July last year they have welcomed over five million visitors, with the Nature Discovery Garden area found to have inspired 92% of overall visitors and 72% of visitors aged 16-24 to spend more time in nature.
Visitors to the gardens have also reported feelings of enhanced wellbeing through spending more time in the gardens.
Before leaving, Kate and William were shown how cutting-edge technology is being used around the garden to inform the Museum’s conservation and research biodiversity projects.
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