Some royal visits are highly formal, while others reveal the more natural side of the Windsors. Prince William and Princess Kate’s recent trip to Northern Ireland had a bit of both.
Amid smiles, jokes, and a few knowing glances, the Prince and Princess of Wales mingled with firefighters in training, local producers, and rural families, once again demonstrating why they are such a beloved couple in the United Kingdom.
One of the most talked-about moments was their visit to the family farm, Long Meadow Cider, in the well-known “Orchard County.” There, William and Kate literally got their hands dirty, helping to make apple and potato bread and participating in the apple harvest.
Donning an apron, the heir to the throne joked about his irregularly shaped dough: “If you look at it this way, it looks like a circle.” This is a new variety! Kate, laughing, managed to fill her basket before him and didn’t hesitate to tease him, “Don’t drop the fruit, William.”
The tour continued at the new Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service training center, where they both participated in water rescue exercises.
They couldn’t successfully throw the rescue rope, but they made up for it with good humor and a lot of closeness. The princess even confessed that she would have loved to “drive with the sirens on,” a comment that drew laughter from the instructors.
These kinds of visits, more relaxed and filled with small, spontaneous gestures, reveal the balance William and Kate have achieved between their institutional duties and connecting with the people, which is undoubtedly one of the keys to their popularity.