The Princess of Wales showed off her sporting skills on Wednesday as she joined in a new competition game of “walking rugby” with some England players.
Kate, 41, was joined by Courtney Lawes, Danny Care and Ugo Monye, at Maidenhead Rugby Club in Berkshire for a competitive but fun event.
Behind it lay a serious message as Kate extends her campaign to highlight the crucial importance of the early years of a child’s life by focusing on the role of fathers.
And there was a deeply emotional moment as the Princess was introduced to Maidenhead under 14s coach Sarah Renton, whose talented sportswoman daughter, Issy, tragically took her own life at the age of 17 just a few days ago.
Mother-of-three Sarah gave the Princess a pair of star-shaped earrings that had been made by her cousin in Issy’s memory.
Emotional Kate turned and hugged Mrs Renton and promised to wear them.
She explained afterwards: “My daughter Issy took her own life on May 29. The proceeds from the earrings are going to a charity called Brave Minds, a mental health charity that supports children using the platforms of rugby clubs. Mental health is such an important issue.
“She was wonderful, Issy, a real breath of fresh air. She had wonderful, wonderful friends, surrounded herself with the best people. She was owning life, doing so well in her A levels, she was going to do an elite rugby programme, she payed touch rugby for England and got a gold medal in the summer. But she was also struggling with depression. Everything was harder than it was a supposed to be.
“We thought she was obviously doing better than she was. But I think one of the things we are looking at is GPs, medication and lack of support. She got herself in a bit of a vacuum. It’s affected a lot of the parents and children here at the club but we are getting through it together.
“The princess said she would wear the earrings. She is very passionate about what she does. It was so great that she came down here today.”
The Princess - dressed for action in a rugby top, tracksuit bottoms and trainers - was greeted by the chief executive of the RFU Nigel Gillingham and Maidenhead’s chairman Steven Bough, as well as former player Monye, who is now a champion for her “Shaping Us” campaign to highlight the importance of childhood experiences for under 5s.
On the pitch athletic Kate had to be reminded that it was “walking only” as she got stuck in. “Sorry, sorry!” she said.
It was harder work than it looked forcing herself not to run, she later said. But she was still able to leap athletically and even twirl as she caught the ball and threw it to her teammate Courtney Lawes, who later declared her a “very good” player.
There was slight confusion afterwards as to whose team won: the yellows declared it their victory but Kate’s blues also claimed the honours.
Inside the club Kate sat down with a group of players, including Lawes and Care, to speak about their experiences as fathers along with Si Trower, the founder of mental health charity Brave Mind, and other club players.
