BREAKING NEWS: Catherine given guided tour to round out busy day of engagements

The Princess of Wales ended her hectic day in the north of England with a short guided walk in the Peak District.

The princess joined Mind over Mountains, a charity offering professional mental health support through outdoor experiences.

The charity focuses on bringing people together through nature, mindfulness, and time with experienced wellbeing coaches and counsellors.

Catherine joined a walk led by a qualified walk leader and wellbeing practitioner, and met with past participants, to discuss the work the charity does to help.

Catherine met young people at Family Action’s Children’s Trauma Therapy Service on the first of her three engagements in the north of England on Tuesday.

The visit was chosen to highlight “the healing power of creativity, community and nature for individuals who have experienced trauma, isolation and poor mental health”.

Catherine met a young girl who had been making a “box of wishes” with her therapist and the princess showed her how to “listen to the sea” by holding a shell to her ear.

The Princess of Wales said: “Sometimes if you put them to your ear, you can sometimes hear the sea, do you want to see if you can hear the sea?

“Sometimes you can hear the waves. If you listen very quietly.

That’s what I like doing with shells. If you close your eyes you can sometimes imagine you’re by the beach.”

The young girl replied “yes” when asked if she could hear the waves.

She then went on to show the princess a “potion” she had made that would keep “the bad dreams” away.

Catherine then visited Wakefield Trinity’s ground to meet schoolgirls being put through their rugby paces, pensioners taking part in a quiz and teenagers at risk of being excluded from school.

The future queen, who is patron of the Rugby Football League, was wearing a smart jacket and trousers rather than being dressed for sporting drills, so only held a rugby ball as she chatted to teenage girls during a break from their skills session for Wakefield’s Champion Schools competition.

The princess was questioned about Princess Charlotte’s school activities as she stood beside the pitch in freezing temperatures, telling the young players: “She does loads of sport but not rugby.”

She also joked with the group about the physicality of rugby league, saying: “There’s not any other sport when you can say contact is a good thing.

Catherine also revealed: “I love this, the league game is so embedded in community life and it’s so grassroots (and) interaction, and getting youngsters involved but also how clubs like this connect to the rest of the community.

“They’re absolute gold dust really, and I’m so proud to help support the league across the country.”

The Princess of Wales visited community groups in the North of England to highlight how creativity and nature can boost mental health, ease isolation and help those who have experienced trauma.

Princess Kate, 44, began her day in Bradford, West Yorkshire (about 200 miles north of London), where she went to see the work of one of the charities she supports: Family Action. The organization runs a Children’s Trauma Therapy service in the city, which helps youngsters aged between 4 and 18 years old and their families recover from and understand their responses to complex trauma.

There, she met with therapists to be shown how creative exercises and work are beneficial to children as they process trauma.

Princess Kate was invited to join in a creative therapy session as she spent time with families and children who have used the service, helping the princess understand how the use of play and imagination can be a vehicle for healing.

Family Action provides young people and adults — who may have experienced adversity, abuse and traumatic bereavement — with direct, practical help to families.

Kate’s second stop was at Wakefield Trinity Rugby League team about 20 miles away, as the Princess of Wales is the patron of the Rugby Football League.

There, Princess Kate was in her element as she joined in a skills session with girls from a local school and met elderly people who were taking part in a program called In Touch, which provides an open space for the local community to help tackle social isolation by hosting quizzes, workshops and stadium tours.

She was then taken to meet with young people from Wakefield’s Inspiring Futures program, which supports those who are at risk of anti-social behavior and youth crime.

Then, the royal was taken out to the rugby pitch for training drills with girls from the town’s Champion Schools competition. The contest, hosted at professional Rugby League club venues, is a high school knock-out competition played at the start of the academic year.

The day followed Princess Kate’s joint engagements with husband Prince William (including a visit to Scotland on Jan. 20), one of a number of engagements that have kicked off the year. And it wasn’t the only occasion marking rugby: On Jan. 15, Kate hosted England’s Women’s Rugby team at Windsor Castle to celebrate the squad’s World Cup win in September 2025.

Before Kate headed to Scotland with William, the princess went out to see Royal Ballet and Opera’s staging of Woolf Works, a ballet triptych inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf. “Thank you to the Royal Ballet for an amazing evening of creative inspiration at Woolf Works this weekend!” Kate, 44, captioned her post, signing off with her initial “C” for Catherine, indicating that the message came directly from her.

She started 2026 with a surprise alongside William, 43, on Jan. 8, showing support for health workers during virus season at Charing Cross Hospital in west London.