Duchess Kate Discloses She Makes Her Own Honey At Home

Jun 25, 2021 by apost team

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is typically friendly, happy and wonderful when she meets her fans out and about in public — even at official engagements. She has been known to even pose and take pictures with a few lucky admirers. The Duchess of Cambridge is known for being poised and classy at all times and that has tied into her daily responsibilities as a member of the royal family. She constantly showcases her beauty and grace with everything from her impeccable sense of style to her smart mannerisms and attitude. She has been held to a high standard during her time within the family and has made an effort to exceed those expectations.

She has also long established herself as the family photographer, ever since she started casually taking portraits of her children. Middleton even did a photo contest in cooperation with the National Portrait Gallery. The project was dubbed "Hold Still" and produced a book that consisted of 100 portraits from the previous year, along with the stories that accompany them and a foreword from Middleton herself.

Now, in addition to all of these merits and achievements, it has also come to light that Kate also dabbles in bee-keeping and makes her own honey at Anmer Hall, Norfolk. This delightful hobby of hers has become known after the duchess visited the Natural History Museum in South Kensington to surprise local schoolchildren out on a school trip. She talked about the importance of bees to the environment and at the same time revealed her sweet new hobby.

Kate visited the Natural History Museum located in South Kensington, London, earlier this week. There she met with schoolchildren to listen and learn more about its Urban Nature Project, which centers on biodiversity and sustainability in the UK. For her visit, she brought along a special gift for the children: a jar of homemade honey straight from Anmer Hall, the Norfolk home where she and Prince William occasionally reside with their three shared children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

According to a Tweet from Daily Mail royal editor Rebecca English, the duchess was eager to find out what the children thought about her honey. "Would you like to try some? This came specially from my beehive," she reportedly said. "Does it taste like honey from the shops? Does it taste like flowers?"

The children seemed enthused with the sweet treat and eagerly licked the spoons they were provided with, smiling all the while. Kate gets and shares her love for homemade honey with her younger brother, James Middleton. James has previously talked about his passion for his dogs and also revealed he is a passionate beekeeper himself. It seems his love of bees and their delicious sweet treat has transferred to his sister, who has also taken up bee-keeping as a hobby. James especially shared how bee-keeping can also be good for one's mental health:

"Bee keeping to me is a meditation. It's a chance to escape my mind and be so consumed by something that hours can pass by without knowing it. Meditation is a wonderful tool to help with stress, anxiety, depression and doesn't just need to be practiced sitting down!"

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He went on to add that honey is considered "one of natures finest medicines. From antibacterial properties, aiding digestion, hay fever, colds, energy and even as cure for sleeping disorders the list goes on. I have a teaspoon of honey every day and couldn't recommend it more."

As it turns out, bee-keeping can be said to be a Middleton' family thing'. In an interview with the Daily Mail back in 2020, James revealed that, while he had thought about starting up the hobby for several years, it wasn't until his family banded together to gift him his first hive that he actually went through with it. He stated:

"I'd always harboured a longing to keep bees, but it wasn't until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality.

Then, my family —mum, dad and my sisters Catherine and Pippa — clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable.

A delivery van arrived with a large buzzing box with the cautionary label: 'Live Bees'. Inside was the nucleus — the start — of my colony: 1,000 Buckfast bees."

From this humble start grew a passion and an incredible hobby that has expanded greatly over the years. "I now have almost half a million bees in eight hives in a meadow at our family home, Bucklebury Manor in Berkshire. And I've whiled away many happy hours with them during lockdown. I'm in awe of these incredible insects.", James also wrote.

His sister Kate doesn't have quite that many bees at her Norfolk home, but it seems the bee-keeping bug has successfully transferred to the royal.

What did you think about Kate Middleton's newest hobby? Would you also keep bees if you had the space and time? Tell us your thoughts and pass this story on!