William and Kate arrive for tour of Natural History Museum’s gardens

The Prince and Princess of Wales have arrived at the Natural History Museum for their first joint official engagement since their summer break.

Kate is the institution’s patron and was greeted alongside her husband William by the museum’s director Doug Gurr, as they began a visit to learn about the attraction’s gardens, used as a teaching, research and recreational resource.

The royal visit to one of London’s most popular museums comes the day after the new term began for the couple’s children, who all attend the private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire.

William and Kate and their family were last seen in public driving to church close to Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire towards the end of August.

During their visit on Thursday, the prince and princess will meet children taking part in learning programmes in the attraction’s gardens, aimed at helping them connect with nature and boost biodiversity in central London.

Kate has spoken in the past about the importance of children spending time in the natural world, and she helped create the family-friendly Back To Nature play garden that was exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019.

She also urged society to “reconnect to nature and celebrate a new dawn within our hearts” in a voiceover for Spring, the first of her series of social media videos celebrating the seasons released earlier this year.

The museum gardens opened in 2024 featuring grassland, wetland and woodland habitats, and are said to serve as a living laboratory where visitors and scientists can identify and monitor wildlife in an urban environment.

During their visit, William and Kate will also be shown how cutting-edge technology is being used in the garden to inform the museum’s conservation and research biodiversity projects.