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Prince & Princess of Wales

The Princess Of Wales celebrates a record breaker

The Princess of Wales visited Landau Forte College in Derby on Wednesday to congratulate Captain Preet Chandi MBE.

In January, Chandi broke the world record for the furthest unsupported solo Polar expedition in history. She trekked across 922 miles in Antartica in 70 days and 16 hours. She accomplished this feat by skiing up to 15 hours per day through 60mph winds and temperatures as low as  minus-30 degrees celsius. 

A vocal advocate of the benefits of being outside and in nature, the Princess of Wales was the patron of the expedition. She and “Polar Preet” spoke with children at the school about the challenge, mental health and what it took to prepare for the journey.

Chandi told the students: “Physically it was very difficult, but mentally it was a whole different ball game. When you’re looking into nothingness, it was tough to keep going. It was hard, it was cold, it was frustrating, but I thought about the ‘why’ and that helped me.”

The Princess of Wales experienced just a small taste of what Chandi went through during her trek. On the expedition, Chandi pulled a 120kg sled full of supplies. While at the school, Catherine, put on a harness and pulled tyres that Chandi used to build up her strength. Once complete, Her Royal Highness joked: “I definitely need to do some training.”

Chandi and the Princess of Wales spoke with the teenage students about goal setting and the mental prep. Catherine told the students how inspirational Chandi has been for her: “It’s been great to see her channelling what she’s been able to achieve in the years that she’s been working towards this incredible goal. I really hope it inspires you all to believe in yourself, to push your boundaries and also to look and really work on your own resilience too.”

The discussion seemed to hit home with student Wiktoria Narusz, 17, who said: “”It was so inspiring seeing Captain Preet come and talk about how she really had to overcome all those downs she had during her expedition and really show her resilience.”

The Princess and Chandi also awarded student, Simrat Soggi, who was a winner of national logo competition for Changi’s expedition.

Captain Preet took leave from the army for her journey. She plans to return later this year and continue her work as a physiotherapist helping injured soldiers. Chandi is already researching her next challenge. She is undecided but knows she wants it to involve others.

The Princess of Wales took to Twitter after the visit: “Record breaker. History maker. @PreetChandi10 is a shining example of fortitude. Today it’s been fantastic to hear all about her polar expedition and see how she is inspiring the next generation of young girls to believe they can achieve anything they put their mind to.”