On Tuesday, September 12, Kate Middleton visited the HMP High Down in Surrey. The Princess of Wales has been carrying out her role as patron of The Forward Trust. This entity supports former criminals in the justice system, so that they can recover from their addictions to drugs. Kate is not new to this, as she has been working with addiction charities for over a decade.
In spite of Kate Middleton’s good cause, most eyes were on the noticeable injury she had on her hands. Reportedly, the princess had hurt herself on the trampoline at home while jumping on it with her kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. During the visit to the prison, The Princess of Wales said about her injury:
“I was jumping around on the trampoline. I did put it on just to keep it safe.”
On a similar note, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace stated that it was a “small injury, nothing serious,” which corroborates that Kate was not in intense levels of pain while doing her charity work at the prison. Fortunately, this did not stop the agenda, and she was able to normally continue with her duties.
Kate stopped at the prison’s restaurant and complimented the staff on their food. These prisoners are studying for National Vocational Qualifications in cooking and food service, so they had been doing a good job in this department. Before having a short conversation with some of the former prisoners, she congratulated them and said, “Well done, it smells delicious.”
Finally, she took an interest in addiction and mental health. She said her visit was “incredibly inspirational” as she talked to four inmates about overcoming drug and alcohol addictions. The princess even shared a little bit of her chats with the guys in the prison, “I asked one of the guys, ‘Would you have liked help [with your addiction] earlier?’ And he said, ‘Yes, but I didn’t know I needed it.'”
Kate Middleton definitely had a great and inspirational visit at the men’s prison. She came off as natural and interested about the situations these prisoners have going through. In addition, she proved that she is one of the people who believe that former criminals can recover.
