Princess Charlotte is the star of a new snap taken by her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, this weekend in Norfolk.
The six-year-old princess is photographed with a Red Admiral butterfly cupped in her hands as she participates in the Big Butterfly Count, which wraps up this weekend in the United Kingdom.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released the photo to their social media accounts with the caption: “We wanted to share these beautiful Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies as part of Big #ButterflyCount initiative taking place across the UK.
“Butterfly Conservation are encouraging us all to count these incredible creatures because not only are they beautiful creatures to be around but they are also extremely important. Hopefully you can beat last year’s total @savebutterflies!”
According to the Big Butterfly Count website, last year, over 111,500 “citizen scientists” participated and submitted counts of 145,249 butterflies and day-flying moths. The organisers liken counting butterflies to taking the pulse of nature, as butterflies are a vital part of the ecosystems in the UK, and their populations are on the decline.
“The data from this and other counts will also help us to identify important trends in species that will assist us in planning how to protect butterflies from extinction, as well as understanding the effect of climate change on wildlife,” reads the website.
Kate’s love of nature and her desire for her children to have the same experience is something that she touched upon in a 2020 episode of the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast. “I remember that from my childhood—doing the simple things, going for a walk together, and that’s really what I try and do with my children as well because it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures,” she said.
She also shared that one of her favourite pictures of Princess Charlotte features her sniffing a bluebell and that she says it “moments like that, that mean so much to me as a parent, and I try every day to put moments like that in, even if they’re small or even if I don’t have time… but that in an ideal world is what I would like to do.”
