What Happened To Princess Kate’s Hand And Why Is She Wearing A Bandage
Kate Middleton sported something surprising for her latest engagement. On Tuesday, the Princess of Wales, 41, stepped out at HMP High Down, a men’s prison in Surrey, England, visiting in her role as patron of The Forward Trust before Addiction Awareness Week in the U.K. Princess Kate smiled as she arrived, and wore bandage on her right hand.
The Princess of Wales’ index and middle fingers were tapped together — for a relatable reason! Princess Kate hurt her hand while playing on the trampoline with her children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. A spokesperson for Kensington Palace confirmed to PEOPLE it is “a small injury, nothing serious.”
The trampoline might be a favorite way to play for the Wales family, as Kate spoke about jumping around on it with George, Charlotte and Louis earlier this year.
In January, the Princess of Wales hosted a reception for the World Cup-winning England Wheelchair Rugby League team at Hampton Court Palace, where one of the athletes asked her if she went to the gym.
According to the Daily Mirror, Kate replied, “It’s running around after the children — I do it all, whenever I can squeeze in exercise I do, even jumping on the trampoline with my children before school.”
Kate has sported a bandage on her right hand before and wore tape around her right thumb a few times last year, from a visit to the Royal Surrey County Hospital in October 2022 and a National Service of Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee that June.
Kate might have applied the bandages to help heal everyday injuries sustained during her hands-on hobbies — like cooking, gardening or beekeeping.
The Princess of Wales’ right hand was not bandaged over the weekend when she traveled to France to watch the Rugby World Cup 2023 Group Stage match between England and Argentina. Princess Kate closely followed the action at Stade de Marseille in her royal role as the patron of the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League, and might have been a good luck charm, as England beat Argentina 27-10.
READ: Princess Kate Pays Tribute To Her Children As She Visits Surrey Prison
Her fingers were also bare while filming for Mike Tindall’s The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast at Windsor Castle with Prince William and Princess Anne, appearing in a special episode in honor of the Rugby World Cup that dropped on Saturday. While Princess Kate serves as patron of England’s Rugby Football Union, Prince William and Princess Anne are the patrons of the Welsh Rugby Union and Scottish Rugby Union, respectively. As a retired pro rugby player, Zara Tindall’s husband was an ideal interviewer for the royal roundtable! Mike helped England win the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003.
Though her hand was hurt, Kate was totally focused at HMP High Down on Tuesday, visiting to learn more about how inmates and their families are being supported through addiction. She observed how the Forward Trust, of which she is the royal patron, helps those in the criminal justice system manage and recover from addiction. She shadowed the experience of a family visit to the facility, starting with the required security process, and heard about efforts to improve visits for kids. High Down, a men’s prison with around 1,100 inmates, has been working to try to ensure that it is a more positive experience, for children in particular.
Addiction was one of the first issues Kate adopted after she married Prince William in 2011. That helped lead to her championing mental health awareness, especially the impact that it has on young children.