Kate debuts blonde look as she leads schoolchildren out of rainstorm

The Princess of Wales proved blondes not only have more fun but take control when she shepherded a group of children out of a rain storm.

Kate’s new lighter hairstyle was on display for the first time at an official event when she visited the Natural History Museum’s gardens with husband William to meet a group of primary school children studying the attraction’s pond.

When a deluge fell a few minutes after the couple arrived Kate held up her umbrella over some of the youngsters 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 aquatic life they had gathered while pond dipping in the nature discovery garden before the torrential rain fell.

Kate’s new hairstyle, which is a departure from her usual brunette locks, got wet as she helped guide the 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 amongst us saying ‘Let them go in, let’s take them inside, it’s pouring’.”

The museum’s gardens were 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 said about William and Kate: “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).”