Prince William shared some rare details about the new furry family members in the Wales household during his most recent royal visit.
The Prince of Wales made an appearance at Woodgate Valley Urban Farm near Birmingham and was given the opportunity to meet some guinea pigs - and revealed that the Wales family now have some at home at Adelaide Cottage near Windsor.
While grooming one of the fluffy creatures, William revealed that while the family's gang of pets has been extended, his children don’t always remember to clean out the cages.
He said, ”These guys are pretty cool. We've got guinea pigs at home and they're not like this. I spend my life cleaning out the guinea pig cage because the children forget to do it."
William also gave a glimpse of the routine his own pets have at home, who aren’t as well behaved as the docile ones on the farm who he helped groomed.
He added, "The ones we've got at home, they're off. You have to keep them constantly stroked and looked after."
Prince William, Princess Catherine, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are also known to be owners to a beloved cocker spaniel called Orla, who they adopted after the death of their former pooch, Lupo.
As well as taking time with the animals, William spoke with volunteers and staff at the city farm, who work to support children and young people through their education and those struggling with their mental health.
Alongside the animals, the National Lottery funded farm also therapeutic programmes for the children to help improve their well-being through one-to-one support and community-focused activities.
The sweet anecdote comes after William return to his royal duties, after spending time with his family, following the Princess of Wales's cancer diagnosis.
Last week, on one of his first visits back, William also offered another insight into his children’s interests when he visited the Surplus to Supper in Surrey, that Prince Louis "loves" cricket.
The prince also made a special visit to see 12-year-old Freddie Hadley, who had written to him last year to discuss his school’s Matrix Project and the campaign #AmIManlyEnough, which supports male students with their mental health.
In a candid talk to the students at St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, William spoke about how he got into mental health campaigning and co-founded Heads Together with his wife, Kate and his brother Prince Harry.
"It started really when I was doing lots of charitable work, I never set out to look out into mental health, particularly male mental health," he began.
"I was interested in homelessness, depression, addiction, all these separate areas and I hadn't really put them altogether as a jigsaw - what are we looking at? What are we trying to fix? It all came together as a mental health piece.
"My passion, if you like, has moved now into male mental health because of the stats you [James] mentioned at the beginning, about the suicide rate in young men is just terrifying, and I wanted to do something about it."
