Prince William and Kate Middleton are famously well-rounded when it comes to hobbies, with the Waleses enjoying passions ranging from field hockey, polo and piano to art and photography. But on Thursday, Oct. 3, the Prince of Wales revealed that their oldest child, Prince George, has learned quite an impressive skill.
"Catherine and I both adore swimming. George loves scuba diving," William told a group of swimmers at an event celebrating a newly reopened community pool in Tyne and Wear, England (via Hello!).
Although the couple were initially afraid Prince George, 11, would be scared, it seems like he took to diving right away.
"He was ten years old, we took him under, thinking he'd freak out, but he absolutely loved it. It's just introduced him to the world of water," the prince added.
Both William and Kate are experienced divers, with the couple sharing footage from a scuba trip they took during their Caribbean tour on Instagram in 2022. And it turns out Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis's school, Lambrook School, even has a scuba diving club, per its website.
Scuba diving isn't the only active pursuit the young prince has taken an interest in, with George spotted at numerous Aston Villa football—aka soccer—matches alongside his dad. Like Prince William, who attended a match with best friend Thomas van Straubenzee on Oct. 2, the tween shares a passion for Aston Villa's team and also enjoys watching rugby.
At home in Windsor, he's known to have participated in activities like football and cricket at school. But it's not all about sports. George—who goes by the nickname "PG" or "Tips" among his friends—has shown an artistic side too, taking ballet classes as part of his curriculum at his former school in London, Thomas's Battersea.
The young prince has also inherited a love for painting and drawing like his mother and grandfather, King Charles, and drew a rather impressive reindeer to celebrate the 2022 Christmas season. According to Hello!, Princess Kate told some art students in 2019 that the little prince was very resourceful when it came to finding art materials.
"George found a piece of charcoal in the fireplace and said, ‘Mummy, I’m going to draw a picture,'" she said.
Along with sharing George's scuba hobby, Prince William also revealed why he chose not to go to the 2024 Paris Olympics during Thursday's swimming event.
When asked if he'd been able to attend the Olympics this summer, he replied, "No, I was so keen to come, but I have to say after reading someone's interview about COVID I decided—because my wife was obviously having chemo—that I didn't want to risk bringing COVID home."
