Kensington Palace has marked World Bee Day by posting a new picture of the Princess of Wales caring for a beehive. 

Her Royal Highness was captured by the lens of Matt Porteous in the summer of 2022 at her home in Norfolk while wearing a full beekeeper’s outfit: the beige suit and the netted hood. 

The Princess is pictured handling a slatted rack that was pulled from the beehive, and the image was accompanied by the caption: “We’re buzzing about World Bee Day!” 

Kensington Palace then explained the importance of pollinator insects: “Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and today is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy.”

It seems like beekeeping and honey production are some of the Princess of Wales’ hobbies; she is said to have beehives at Anmer Hall, the family’s home in Norfolk, and other royals also keep four beehives at Buckingham Palace and two at Clarence House. 

This makes the royals self-sufficient in honey production, and the result of this practice is used in the royal kitchens whenever needed. 

The then-Duchess of Cambridge even brought a jar of her homemade honey to a meeting with some children during a visit to the Natural History Museum in London in June 2021. 

And the Princess of Wales is not the only British royal with a soft spot for bees; the Queen became patron of the charity Bees for Development in 2020 and is also said to produce honey in her home in Lacock, Wiltshire. 

While it fell during Mental Health Awareness Week, it was important for the Prince and Princess of Wales to mark World Bee Day; the tiny insects are a crucial part of environmental protection, as they not only pollinate, thus propagating native plant species, but they are also a key indicator of the health of a specific ecosystem.