The Princess of Wales has paid tribute to ‘Mother Nature’ this Mother’s Day.
This morning, the Princess shared a heartfelt message and short, beautiful video honouring Mother Nature on her official social media accounts.
The Princess shared that she wanted to celebrate Mother Nature this year, as it has been her sanctuary over the past twelve months during her cancer treatment.
The post broke tradition for the Wales family, who have shared family portraits on Mother’s Day in recent years.
It’s certainly a notable shift from last year’s approach, when a Mother’s Day portrait of Kate with her three children caused widespread controversy due to digital editing.
The 2024 photo, released during a period when the princess had stepped back from public duties due to illness, sparked conspiracy theories and intense media discussion— eventually prompting a rare apology from Kate herself.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that this year’s message took a quieter, more contemplative form.
The 37-second video, shared to the @KensingtonRoyal social media channels, contains footage of gentle scenes from nature spanning various natural environments and encompassing all weather: crashing waves, gentle sunshine, a close-up of the veins in a green leaf, pouring rain, a ladybird carefully making its way across a blade of grass and reeds blowing in the wind.
Among the natural footage are two shots filmed by videographer Will Warr last summer in Norfolk — both of which also appeared briefly in Kate’s cancer treatment update.
One clip shows the princess placing her palms gently against a tree trunk, while the other captures Prince William walking barefoot through long grass, flanked by the couple’s two dogs.
The accompanying message, signed off with a simple “C” — to indicate it was written by Catherine herself — reads:
“Over the past year, nature has been our sanctuary. This Mother’s Day, let us celebrate Mother Nature and recognise how our bond with the natural world can help not only nurture our inner selves, but remind us too of the role we play within the rich tapestry of life.”
The sentiment reflects the princess’s long-standing connection to the outdoors.
Over the years, Kate has often spoken about the power of nature, particularly in supporting children’s development, mental wellbeing, and family connection.
In 2019, the Princess famously co-designed the “Back to Nature” garden for the Chelsea Flower Show, complete with a stream, den, treehouse and rope swing — encouraging families to spend more time in natural surroundings.
How did William and Kate mark Mother’s Day in previous years?
2014 – Kensington Palace publicly marked Mother’s Day for the first time in 2014 by releasing a new family photograph of William, Kate, and then 8-month-old Prince George. The informal portrait, taken at Kensington Palace by photographer Jason Bell, showed the young family at an open window with their pet cocker spaniel, Lupo. This was Kate’s first Mother’s Day as a mother, and the photo captured a relaxed family moment ahead of the Cambridges’ upcoming tour of New Zealand and Australia.
The couple did not share any further public posts marking Mother’s Day on social media until 2020.
2020– The UK Mother’s Day fell early into the COVID-19 pandemic. William and Kate acknowledged the “difficult” Mother’s Day and offered support, while sharing a series of four heartwarming photos on their official social media accounts:
The posts included: (1) a never-before-seen snapshot of William and Kate giving piggyback rides to Prince George and Princess Charlotte outdoors (a fun family moment from Anmer Hall). (2) a vintage photo of a young Prince William with his late mother, Princess Diana. (3) a baby picture of Kate in her mother Carole Middleton’s arms and (4) a bright homemade Mother’s Day card featuring a vase of paper flowers crafted by Prince George for his mum. The images paid tribute to multiple generations.
2021 – William and Kate shared social media posts of handmade cards from their children, in memory of their grandmother ‘Granny Diana’.
The post included a touching caption acknowledging that “This year Mother’s Day will be different once again. Many of us will be apart from our loved ones… but for those experiencing bereavement, today may be particularly challenging.” It noted that William and Kate’s children make cards for Diana “each year on Mother’s Day… for William.” The message closed with: “Whatever your circumstances, we are thinking of you this Mother’s Day.”
The UK was still under pandemic restrictions in early 2021, so the post touched the public by both addressing families kept apart and highlighting remembrance of lost loved ones.
2022 – The couple did not share any posts to social media marking Mother’s Day in 2022. Notably, the couple finished a tour in the Caribbean, which ended the day before Mother’s Day.
2023 – The Prince and Princess shared two new photographs to their official social media accounts on Mother’s Day 2023. The images – taken by photographer Matt Porteous – show Kate enjoying the outdoors with her children. They were captioned “Happy Mother’s Day from our family to yours”.
2024 – The Prince and Princess of Wales marked Mother’s Day with a new family photograph taken by Prince William and the Waleses’ home in Windsor.
The release of this photo became unexpectedly controversial. It came after a long pause in Kate’s public appearances due to her medical treatment, which had led to much online speculation about her absence. While the image was meant to reassure the public and “bring some joy to the nation,” it sparked a media storm when observers noticed it appeared digitally retouched. In fact, major press agencies (AP, Reuters, Getty, AFP) issued an unusual “kill notice” retracting the image, citing concerns that the photo had been manipulated by the source. This revelation prompted extensive discussion; Kensington Palace later acknowledged minor editing and Kate was said to be “astonished” by the reaction.
Comments
2 responses to “Kate Middleton Marks Mother’s Day with a Tribute to ‘Mother Nature’”
That picture of George with Lupo has to be one of my all-time favourite pictures of George! As is that photograph of Prince William and Princess Catherine caught up in a hug during the 2012 Olympics in Britain. As for the 2024 photograph, I think many of us were utterly astonished at the furor kicked up. We were just so glad to see Catherine again! She has managed to turn the narrative, and this level of contemplative gratefulness feeds into William’s Earthshot Prize endeavours. I think it’s entirely appropriate, and it is very graceful of her to post. As it was last year, for that matter.
“As for the 2024 photograph, I think many of us were utterly astonished at the furor kicked up. We were just so glad to see Catherine again!”
I completely agree with this. Though, I’m quite internet savvy, computer literate and have dabbled with photography and photoshop in the past, so I wasn’t at all shocked to see the photo editing. I could imagine making the same mistakes as an amateur. Plus, I like to think I’m sensible enough not to buy into conspiracy theories and whatnot.
But the rest of the world’s reaction? Seemed like hysteria. I think the tabloids and tiktok/social media have a lot to answer for because they fan the flames for clicks…
I’m not a very ‘over the top’ or emotional/reactive person anyway. Though, her cancer diagnosis did knock me sideways. I was 3 days postpartum, so very hormonal at the time. But I felt like my best friend had just told me the bad news.