rundown
On Friday, Duchess Kate shared the final episode of her Mother Nature video series on Instagram to mark her 44th birthday. The clip shows the Princess of Wales talking about gratitude, healing and tranquility while enjoying a natural landscape. The birthday message came a day after Duchess Kate and Prince William visited Charing Cross Hospital in London for their first joint event of the year.
Duchess Kate celebrated her 44th birthday with a post on Instagram on Friday. The nature-themed clip features the Princess of Wales walking through a wintry landscape as a voiceover speaks about stillness, gratitude and rebirth. The video, titled “Winter,” is the fourth and final installment of her quarterly “Mother Nature” series, which she launched last year.
“Even in the coldest, darkest season, winter brings us stillness, patience, and quiet reflection, where the river slows down just enough for us to see our own reflections and discover the deepest parts of ourselves with the whispers and heartbeats of every living thing,” Kate said in the video. “I am reminded of how deeply grateful I am, because the river within our hearts flows so easily. Fears are washed away, cleansed, cleansed. Come to peace with our tears and discover what it means to be alive, to be one with nature, to be one with the silent teacher and soft voice that guides and heals us in memory.”
Kate spoke at length about the series and its influence in her caption. “The ‘Mother Nature’ series is a deeply personal and creative reflection on how nature has healed me. But it is also a story about the power of nature and creativity in collective healing,” she writes. “There is much we can learn from Mother Nature as we strive to create a happier, healthier world.C.”
The birthday post comes almost a year after Duchess Kate announced she was in remission following cancer treatment. She first announced her diagnosis in March 2024 and stepped back from public life while undergoing chemotherapy, which she completed later that year.
In January 2025, she confirmed her remission in a post to
Since then, Duchess Kate has gradually resumed her engagement with the royal family, continuing to cite nature as a source of solace. The Mother Nature series debuted during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2025, with subsequent films released in the summer and fall.
According to People, the “winter” video was shot during an early morning walk in Berkshire, where the duchess lives with Prince William and their three children, and used footage shot by filmmaker Will Waugh in London and the Cotswolds.
Kate’s latest Instagram post comes a day after she and William got engaged for the first time this year. On Thursday, the couple surprised staff and volunteers at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, who are co-patrons of NHS Charities Together.
Kate and William visit Charing Cross Hospital in London.
In footage shared by ITV’s Lizzie Robinson, the Duchess of Cambridge can be seen introducing her husband to a patient by saying, “This is William,” before joking that the prince “came here to interrupt his gym session.”
During the visit, Kate spoke to volunteers and explained that patients and visitors often spend “hours and hours” receiving chemotherapy. According to Hello!, Kate replied, “I know,” before touching William’s arm and adding, “We know.” magazine. The royal couple also spent time meeting staff during tea breaks, touring the hospital’s rehabilitation wards and taking part in a roundtable discussion with leaders of NHS charities to discuss the impact their charity work has on patient care and staff wellbeing.
Duchess Kate and Prince William met with volunteers from Imperial Medical Charities during their visit to Charing Cross Hospital.
Reflecting on the visit, William said: “We both have had different experiences in hospitals, both working in the ambulance and Catherine on her recent health trip, but being here today reminds us of how important the interaction with all the teams, all the staff and patients is. It’s very heart-warming and it’s so important to acknowledge and appreciate everything that goes on in the NHS and the very strong bonds between patients and carers.”
Elsewhere during her appearance, Kate added: “There’s amazing work going on here, and we’ve just seen some of it today… It’s going to make a huge difference to the patients and families who come through these doors.”
