A newly released image of the Princess of Wales has captured Kate Middleton embarking on her lesser-known passion of beekeeping.
The mother-of-three, 41, fully embraced the endeavour for World Bee Day, wearing a beekeeper’s suit as she tends to a hive in her Norfolk home.
The image, taken by Matt Porteous, the royal photographer behind Prince William and Kate Middleton’s official family photographs, shows Kate lifting a part of the hive to collect honey.
She grins from inside the beekeeper’s helmet as she does, glancing down at the group of honeybees who are crowded around the board.
The photograph was posted on Kensington Royal Instagram to mark World Bee Day.
The mother-of-three, 41, fully embraced the endeavour for World Bee Day, wearing a beekeeper’s suit as she tends to a hive in Windsor
The royals also shared a video of a number of hives in Windsor Great Park for World Bee Day
The caption reads: ‘We are buzzing about World Bee Day.
‘Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and today is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy.’
Beekeeping is one of the Princess of Wales’s lesser-known talents, and is one she shares with her brother James Middleton. She has been spotted handing out jars of honey from her garden during royal visits.
Upon a visit to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London in 2021, the Princess revealed she also has bees at her Norfolk residence.
During her visit, she brought along a jar of honey from the Norfolk garden, offering it to children from St Mary of the Angels Primary School in London.
Elsewhere, Buckingham Palace beekeepers have been pictured hard at work
The Queen is also a keen apiarist, and keeps bees at Raymill, her six-bedroom retreat in Lacock, Wiltshire, 17 miles from the King’s Highgrove home
She said: ‘Would you like to try some?’ she asked. ‘I’ve got one spoon each. This came specially from my beehive.
‘See if it tastes the same as at home. Does it taste like honey from the shops? Does it taste like flowers?’
Elsewhere, Buckingham Palace beekeepers have been pictured hard at work.
The Queen is also a keen apiarist, and keeps bees at Raymill, her six-bedroom retreat in Lacock, Wiltshire, 17 miles from the King’s Highgrove home.
During a visit to Launceston, Cornwall, last summer Camilla met honey-producers selling jars in the town square, and told them she was a hands-on beekeeper and had only lost one colony during the previous winter.
Honey produced by Camilla’s bees is sold at Fortnum & Mason to raise funds for charity
Honey produced by Camilla’s bees is sold at Fortnum & Mason to raise funds for charity.
This year’s recipient is Nigeria’s first sexual assault referral centre, which the Queen supports as patron.
She is also president of Bees for Development, a charity training beekeepers and protecting bee habitats in more than 50 countries.
Buckingham Palace is home to four beehives on an island in a lake in the garden, and are two hives in Clarence House’s garden.
The hives produced more than 300 jars of honey last year for the palace kitchens, and it was often served in honey madeleines, as a filling for chocolate truffles or in honey and cream sponge.