When the Princess of Wales stepped out this week, she made it clear what to expect from her following her cancer treatment and highlighting her belief in the healing power of nature – but one thing we didn’t know about the visit is that she made a spontaneous but meaningful decision.
During her visit to Colchester Hospital on Wednesday, the mother-of-three spoke openly about the challenges cancer patients face after treatment ends, while promoting the role nature can play in supporting mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
After speaking to patients and staff, Catherine was invited to plant some ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants in the hospital’s wellbeing garden, but surprised onlookers when she refused to wear gloves.
In this week’s episode of A Right Royal Podcast, which you can listen to below, Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills, who attended the event, shares why Catherine chose to go without gloves.
“She was offered gloves when she was bending down to plant some of those Catherine roses, which were especially commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society,” Rhiannon explains.
“She didn’t want gloves. She had filthy hands. My cameraman, who was there, kind of zoomed in on her filthy hands. He was like, ‘Oh, is that appropriate or not?’ And I was like, ‘yes, it’s her getting her hands dirty’.”
She added: “So while the palace keeps saying, ‘We’re going to have to all get used to that flexibility in terms of engagements she’s doing’, I think, when she’s there… they are fully in.”
Not only did Catherine get her hands dirty, and her hair wet, while planting, she also took part in a mini meet and greet that hadn’t been scheduled, staying longer than planned to chat with well-wishers.
In this week’s episode, the trio and guest Rhiannon also open up about King Charles and Queen Camilla’s humour, and how they surprised journalists at a briefing at Buckingham Palace last week. There’s also a chat about what’s coming up for the royal family: new warrants, summer holidays, and more.
