The Prince and Princess of Wales made their first official engagement since the summer holidays with a visit to the Natural History Museum.
Kate and William visited the attraction to meet a group of primary school children studying on Thursday.
When a sudden downpour struck a few minutes after the couple arrived, Kate held up her umbrella over some of the children and told the teachers: “Let them go in, let’s take them inside, it’s pouring.”
The children, from Kender Primary School in south London, were about to show the couple the aquatic life they had collected while pond dipping in the nature discovery garden when torrential rain started to fall.
Kate did get wet as she guided children into a nearby building, but she was pictured smiling as she moved them under cover.
Beverley Brown, 44, assistant head teacher from the school in New Cross, said after 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.”
The museum’s gardens opened in July 2024 and are used as a teaching, research and recreational resource, with the children invited to learn about the attraction’s large pond.
A wet weather plan saw William and Kate join the children in an impromptu classroom where the youngsters tried to place specimens of woodlice, spiders, and grasshoppers encased in small plastic blocks in their right habitats.
When a museum staff member asked the children for their answers, the princess said with a smile “we decided, we find spiders everywhere”.
Ms Brown it was “a really amazing experience for the children”.
“They were talking to them non-stop throughout about the mini beasts. Prince William was laughing because some of the children were making Jenga blocks (from the specimens).”
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