Kate Middleton reveals sweet insight into how Prince Louis spends his school days

The Prince has been getting his hands dirty

Kate Middleton and Prince Louis
(Image credit: Jordan Pettitt-WPA Pool/Getty Images and Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images)

Kate Middleton gave a sweet glimpse into Prince Louis school days while she visited the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday.


Kate Middleton's surprise appearance at the Chelsea Flower show in London yesterday gave royal fans a lot to talk about. From her stunning pink ME+EM dress, a look recycled from many of her previous royal engagements, to the sweet interactions between Kate and the school children visiting the event, the visit was a resounding success. But the one tidbit from the day that many royal fans picked up on was the rare insight the Princess gave into Prince Louis' school days.

As Kate sat down to enjoy a picnic with the visiting school children, she was asked a whole host of questions by the youngsters who wanted to know what life was like being a member of the royal family. After she admitted that "you have to work hard," she revealed what royal life was like for her youngest son and how it didn't differ all that much from their own school lives.

Kate revealed to the group, "Louis is growing broad beans at school." The insight was the perfect topic of conversation for the day as the school children had been invited to the event in order to show them how to "plan a home-grown meal and discover how gardens can support wellbeing," a press release from Kensington Palace shared. 

Kate Middleton and Prince Louis

(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

Yesterday marked the first time in the Chelsea Flower show's 110-year history that a children’s picnic has taken place, with the Princess attending to show her support for  helping to bring gardening and nature into the lives of more children as part of her interest in early year's development, an interest that is said to be changing the way both she and Prince William view parenting.

According to Kensington Palace, Kate is advocating and promoting "the benefits to young people of spending time outdoors." They explained that time in nature for young people provides them "with an opportunity to build their confidence, develop their independence and learn how to forge relationships with others – all of which are crucial skills which help to shape the adults we become."

Prince Louis' interest in gardening in perhaps somewhat unsurprising then, considering his mum's desire to ensure he and his two older siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, spend as much time outdoors as possible. 

The young Prince's recent fifth birthday photos showed him outdoors alongside Kate, smiling as she pushed him around in a wheelbarrow in the garden of their Windsor home, Adelaide Cottage. One of the images showed the extensive garden that boasts a vast open lawn with stunningly wild hedges surrounding the perimeter, giving the children lots of space to run around and breathe in the fresh air. 

With forecasts suggesting that 2023 could see heatwave in the UK, the family will likely be spending a lot of their time in the outdoor space and, considering Kate's love of gardening that Louis has now picked up on, the Wales children are sure to be getting stuck in with a whole host of gardening activities

The three siblings, who currently sit second, third and fourth in the royal line of succession, already enjoy spending time in the sun and understand the unmatched benefits of getting outdoors. Earlier this year, Kate revealed that every day after he has finished school, Louis comes home and says "I need to get my energy out," before heading into the garden and blowing off some steam.

But even while the children are at school, they're not cooped up in a classroom as the Lambrook School they attend has 'a very different set up' where 'children are encouraged to get outdoors,' according to the Sunday Times' Royal Editor Roya Nikkhah.

Speaking on the Lorraine show last September following George, Charlotte and Louis' first day back at school after the school holidays, when the Wales' were still The Cambridge's, Nikkhah explained, "The Cambridge's want their children to have a different type of schooling. It was a lovely first day at school for them...it's the first time all three of them have been at the school together.

"This is quite different, it's all part of the big move to Windsor. It's an amazing school. It's a very different set up. There's a lot of emphasis on the outdoors, there's animals there, a miniature golf course, peacocks that roam free throughout this school. 

"It's a very special, lovely school where children are encouraged to get outdoors. That's part of the plan for William and Kate for their children to get outdoors and have a more normal life."

News writer

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.