Prince William is making his first major change to the Duchy of Cornwall, the property portfolio worth more that 1 billion British pounds that he inherited from King Charles III last September. He and wife Princess Kate are now the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, and they are starting to bring some of their personal charitable interests into those roles. On Thursday, the couple went on a series of engagements in the area to launch a new mental health initiative for farmers and check in on a long-running educational program for children supported by land from the duchy.
The prince and princess kicked off their afternoon in Hereford, where they joined a group of students for an outdoor education session. William donned safety glasses to saw a branch into two pieces, while Kate, her fingers still taped from a recent trampoline injury, held the branch in place. Later, Kate joined students under a canopy to toast cinnamon and sugar coated apples in a fire.
Kate was intrigued by the alternative to s'mores, the traditional fireside snack, according to Hello!. “It’s like a healthy marshmallow,” she said. “It always tastes so much better whenever you cook something on the fire. I’ve seen 1,000 marshmallows around the fire, but I've never seen a sugar-dipped apple. I’m going to try this with my kids.”
The students from Madley Primary School were taking part in a Forest School initiative, where students complement the normal curriculum with lessons in environmental awareness by spending one day a week in an outdoors classroom. The program began in 2011, when the Duchy of Cornwall gave the school a woodland site in Brampton Hill.
Later, William and Kate traveled to a nearby Kings Pitt Farm to meet with Sam and Emily Stables, founders of the mental health charity We Are Farming Minds. Along with Matthew Morris, the rural director of the Duchy of Cornwall, the group discussed the prince’s new goal to provide mental health support for all the tenants living and working on the 130,000 acre duchy estate.
WIlliam and Kate surveyed the farming operation and pet a donkey during the visit but they also had a more serious conversation with Sam about his own experiences with depression. "They're just so passionate about mental health and so genuine. They want to support us and support British farming, what more could you want?” Sam told the Daily Mail after the prince and princess departed. “[The Duchy's new initiative] is massive and I know it will be a fantastic partnership and hopefully we can provide the tenants with specialized support.”
During his time helming the Duchy of Cornwall, William has already made a few changes to the estate, like ending the lease on a Welsh farmhouse, but this is his first major initiative at the Duchy, which generates about 24 million British pounds of income for his family every year, according to the Telegraph. “The conversations evolved this year from him saying this is an absolute priority to us being where we are today,” Morris told the newspaper. “So far with Prince William as our new Duke, it’s been evolution rather than revolution, however, he’s been very clear that mental health is one of his priorities.”
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