The Princess has been reported to become “more interested in questions of faith” since her cancer diagnosis. Photo / Getty Images
The Princess has been reported to become “more interested in questions of faith” since her cancer diagnosis. Photo / Getty Images
On a trip to the Lake District, royal tells Scouts being outdoors helps her find ‘balance and peace in a very busy world’.
The Princess of Wales said she had found a “very spiritual, very intense” emotional connection to nature, which brought her peace.
In a video promoting the Scouts in her role as joint President, the Princess spoke of her relationship with nature as she continued her return to work while in remission from cancer, saying the outdoors had been “a place to balance” in “a very busy world”.
Last month, she travelled to the Lake District to meet Dwayne Fields, the new Chief Scout, and youngsters on the shores of Lake Windermere.
The event was not listed in the Court Circular, with a Kensington Palace videographer joining the Princess to shoot footage, which was edited to share on social media with music and a voiceover.
The footage showed the Princess, dressed for the countryside in a bakerboy cap, knitted jumper and walking boots, crouching down in the grass to help children read a map, walking through woodland, and taking a photograph with the group on top of a hill.
She said: “I find it a very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection, I suppose, these environments.
“Not everyone has that same relationship, perhaps, with nature, but it is, therefore, meaningful for me as a place to balance and find a sort of sense of peace and reconnection in what is otherwise a very busy world.”
Kensington Palace said the Lake District event saw the Princess discuss how being in the countryside can “help us to deepen connections with ourselves and each other while building our skills of empathy, resilience and our sense of belonging”.
She and Fields spoke of the “impact being in nature can have on young people in building their confidence and skills for later life”, the palace reported.
The Princess met a group of 10- to 15-year-old Scouts from groups in Cumbria and Greater Manchester as they studied for their naturalist badge.
“It’s so beautiful because so many of the walks here, you can see Lake Windermere because it’s huge, isn’t it?” the Princess told Scouts while pointing to a map. “Look how hilly it is over here. Have you done any of these big mountains?”
She added that “what’s so fantastic about the Scouts is that all those same foundations that have always been there” can still apply in the modern day, saying: “It still resonates for so many young people, and it’s making such a massive difference to them”.
Dwayne Fields became Chief Scout last September. Photo / Getty Images
Fields, who became Chief Scout last September following the tenure of Bear Grylls, said: “I think it’s really important for young people to have access to nature because it’s a space where they can push themselves, they can challenge themselves, they learn leadership skills, spend time making friends and those lifelong really great memories that we all hold onto”.
“And I think if we can do that, we’ll build up a generation that is passionate about our natural spaces and passionate about protecting them as well.”
He added that having the Princess as joint president was “great for the Scout movement”. She shares the presidency with the Duke of Kent, who has been in the role since 1975.
Of the day out, Mr Fields said: “In an increasingly complex world, digital technology has its place, but the few hours we spent in the hills without screens was magical. We are often at our best in the outdoors, and I want more young people to experience outdoor adventures like this for themselves.”
