Kate Middleton gifts homemade honey to schoolchildren; reveals she shares the hobby with brother James

Kate Middleton brought along a special homemade treat for schoolchildren during her latest royal engagement, and also revealed a sweet hobby that she shares with her younger brother James Middleton.

On Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex paid a visit to London's Natural History Museum, of which she is the royal patron, to learn about their Urban Nature Project. During the visit, she also met local schoolchildren, and gifted them homemade honey from Anmer Hall, the country home in Norfolk she shares with her husband Prince William and their three children: Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3.

"Would you like to try some? This came specially from my beehive. Does it taste like honey from the shops? Does it taste like flowers?" she asked the students, according to a Daily Mail correspondent.

The Duchess of Cambridge is not the only member of the Middleton family that has an interest in beekeeping. Her brother James had revealed his hobby in August 2019, writing on Instagram: "Many of you know I am passionate about dogs, but not many know I am almost as passionate about bees."

"I'm fascinated by the little creatures. From their waggle dance to the queen laying her own body weight in eggs a day... there's a lot to be said about these humble little creatures," the 34-year-old wrote alongside a series of pictures of himself indulging in beekeeping as well as an image of homemade honey.

He also revealed that the activity helps him clear his mind and is like "meditation" for him. He explained: "It's a chance to escape my mind and be so consumed by something that hours can pass by without knowing it. Meditation is a wonderful tool to help with stress, anxiety, depression and doesn't just need to be practiced sitting down!"

James's sister Kate was among the people who made it possible for him to pursue beekeeping, knowing that he had always harboured a longing to keep bees. James received the special gift on the occasion of his 24th birthday, which was just two weeks before Kate's wedding to Prince William.

"My family - mum, dad and my sisters Catherine and Pippa - clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable. A delivery van arrived with a large buzzing box with the cautionary label: 'Live Bees.' Inside was the nucleus - the start - of my colony: 1,000 Buckfast bees," he wrote for the Daily Mail.