Kate Middleton revealed that Prince Louis has an autumn obsession: collecting conkers, the horse chestnuts popular with children in the fall. The disclosure came during an outing with U.S. First Lady Melania Trump at Frogmore Gardens in Windsor, where the two women spent time with Scouts on President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom. The Princess of Wales is joint president of the Scouts.
During the visit, Kate told Chief Scout Dwayne Fields about Louis’s current fixation. “We keep finding conkers in cupboards, in his bed—conkers everywhere!” she said. She added that Louis is so enamoured with the autumnal staple that he even stuffs the conkers into his toy trucks and plays with them.
Louis, who turned seven this year, has shown a knack for picking up new pastimes. The outing continued with Scouts from Lewisham, who created leafy artworks as Kate and Melania observed. The women hosted a picnic for the Squirrels, the Scouts’ youngest section, and the day featured honey sandwiches crafted with honey from the Wales family hives at Anmer Hall, plus Anmer honey in homemade granola bars. The First Lady received a jar of White House honey as a memento of the visit.
Dwayne Fields invited Melania to participate in a leaf-art activity and asked volunteers to help her draw animals. The First Lady drew a bear with the help of a child named Mabel, who sat on her lap during the activity. After the crafts, the group shared a lunch and presented small gifts to the children. A neckerchief was later handed to Melania by Dwayne as a token of appreciation for the Scouts’ UK counterparts.
The Gardens at Frogmore sit on the Windsor estate that includes Frogmore Cottage and Frogmore House. The estate has long been a site of royal life and events. Frogmore Cottage gained prominence after Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, moved there in 2019 following their decision to step back as senior royals; they vacated the property in 2023. Frogmore House, a separate residence on the estate, has hosted members of the royal family for centuries, including Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding reception.
The outing with the First Lady and the Scouts underscored a broader cross-cultural moment during President Trump’s U.K. visit this week, with Kate and Melania combining public-facing duties with a hands-on activity that emphasized autumn traditions and youth programs. The event highlighted the royal family’s ongoing involvement with the Scouts, for which Kate serves as a joint president, and a moment of cultural exchange that paired a royal engagement with a U.S. first lady in a garden setting.