Royals

Kate Middleton and Prince William Meet Sheep During Surprise Away-Day to the Country

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a farm in northeast England

Published on April 27, 2021 09:48 AM

Kate Middleton and Prince William are back in the country!

The royal couple headed to see a farm in northeast England early Tuesday, where they took a lamb for a walk and both tried their hand at driving a huge tractor.

It was the first time the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been on a royal outing away from London since their train tour of the U.K. to thank key workers and carers for the unceasing work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Royal visit to Durham — Kate Middleton on the farm. PA Images

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With COVID-19 restrictions in the U.K. lifting gradually, Kate, 39, and William, 38, took the opportunity to make the trip to the countryside. At Manor Farm, near Darlington in County Durham, which was the first of two stops on Tuesday, they met owners Clare Wise and Stewart Chapman. Touring the the cattle, calving and lambing sheds, William and Kate were told how Clare and Stewart care for the health and welfare of their livestock.

They were also shown some of the tools used at the farm including grass monitoring, land rotation and feed sampling to improve productivity and ensure that they are able to give back to the environment and increase their sustainability.

William and Kate then sat on some straw bales to join a discussion with local farmers about their experiences of the last year, including the mental health impact of COVID-19 for farmers and the challenges of balancing home-schooling with farm work.

"That is one of the ongoing things, being at home all day, it starts to wear on people and the pandemic has take away those coping mechanisms," William said, according to the Northern Echo.

With the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow later this year, the group also spoke about the work that is being carried out across the industry to improve environmental impact and help deliver the U.K.'s commitment to "net zero" carbon emissions.

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Poignantly, with two days until their 10th wedding anniversary, their second visit of the day was to a local youth project which benefitted from donations from the couple's Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund in 2011.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Cheesy Waffles Project, which supports children, young people and adults with additional needs aged 7 to 35 from across County Durham, to see for themselves some of the inspiring work helping to enable young people to achieve their full potential.

That meant the sporty royals pitching in with some games, including trying their hand at teeing off at golf and taking part in an art project.

William and Kate were told about the Key Framework, which is helping to support thousands of young people to build skills and discover their capabilities by encouraging groups of young people to plan, pitch and carry out their own project ideas. They also heard about a well-being and mindfulness project.

The couple have much to smile about this week. Apart from their anniversary, they have just marked little Prince Louis's third birthday (and starting preschool!) and are looking towards the 6th birthday of Princess Charlotte on May 2.

The couple stepped out last Wednesday in their first appearance since the funeral of William's grandfather Prince Philip. Their visit had a special link to Philip as they met the 282 (East Ham) Squadron, Air Training Corps in East London to hear more about how the Air Cadets support young people to develop vital life skills. Prince Philip served as Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps for 63 years until 2015, when he passed the military patronage on to Kate, who became Honorary Air Commandant.