The Prince and Princess of Wales met with families enjoying the Big Lunch in the sunshine today, and told royal fans that Princess Charlotte was tired after making sure her brother Prince Louis behaved himself at the Coronation.
Crowds gathered to meet the royal couple who arrived on the Long Walk in Windsor, Berkshire, just before 2pm on Sunday afternoon.
Cheers of God Save The King erupted as they arrived with punters waving flags and taking selfies with Kate and William.
One little girl was in tears when meeting the Princess and Kate gave her a hug in a sweet moment.
Kate asked “Do you want a hug?” with the emotional youngster responding “Yes please”.
She was also reunited with Lauren Hall, CEO of The Babybank at Windsor, who she met last week and she recognised in the huge crowd.
The pair also met organisers of the Big Lunch, a nationwide event which encourages Brits to come together to share a meal and celebrate King Charles’ crowning this weekend.
Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Director of the Eden Project, said: “It was so lovely of them to take time out of their busy day to come down.
“It’s all part of that sense of community that we are trying to build and it’s what it’s all about.”
Kate, wearing a pale blue blazer and navy trousers, joked her white Vega trainers would not stay white for long walking through the mud on the Long Walk after the rain on Saturday. William wore a matching navy blue suit with a blue shirt.
When asked by a little girl where Princess Charlotte was, William replied: “She’s very tired after yesterday. She’s having a quiet day at home. It was making sure her little brother behaved herself.”
Prince William spoke to the Rock Choir who had just performed on a stage on the Long Walk and joked that Prince Louis has been enjoying listening to Led Zeppelin recently.
The royal couple also met members of the Berkshire Theatre School who had performed songs from the musical Matilda earlier in the afternoon.
William told the group: “I can see you’re in Matilda T-shirts. Charlotte loves the musical Matilda at the moment. She knows all the songs.”
The Prince of Wales took a can of Return of The King, a local organic ale which contains barley from the Royal farms.
Trisha McCrosie, 59, Sue Watson, 54, Dion English, 54, and Lorraine Romney, 54, had set up a table with a huge King Charles flag and had glasses of cocktails and cans of the local ale for the couple.
Baker Trisha had spent Saturday making 400 coronation themed cupcakes and the group brought cucumber sandwiches, Bucks Fizz, and quiche for their picnic.
The Prince even tried some of Dion’s Purple Reign gin, which he then told Kate to try.
Dion said: “I feel amazing that he tried my gin. He said it was very nice and he said ‘Kate, try this’.
“He took the Return of the King beer and said he’s going to ask his dad if he’s tried it.”
Lorraine added: “It was lovely of them to come over. They were lovely. Very friendly.”
Sue said: “They were asking us about why we were here. We wanted to be here to celebrate the coronation. I wasn’t expecting this at all though. It was lovely, really lovely.”
Nine-year-old Florence Rispoli-Hall was speechless when Prince William and Princess Kate came to see her.
She said she was “really happy” after meeting a real life Prince and Princess. Florence will be performing later this afternoon in a coronation choir with 250 children.
Mum Nicola said: “They’re really personable. Every time you see them there's a gate or barrier in the way. It was brave to be in the crowd.
“It makes it feel like they are part of you. This felt a million miles away from yesterday. They can do the pageantry for the world. When it comes to Windsor it feels more intimate.”
And Summer Moran, 12, got a fist bump from Prince William, who called her very sporty after she told him she plays rugby.
She said: “He’s a very nice person and he gives back to people.”
But there was some pushing and shoving in the crowds when the couple first showed up, with the informal walkabout happening without any barriers to control the flow of fans.
William Evans, 43, brought his kids Jacob, nine, Joshua, five, and Phoebe, seven, to meet Prince William.
He said: “My little boy is in his football kit so William asked him what football team he supports and what activities they do at school. It was really lovely to talk to him. He asked if we had enjoyed the weekend.”
Mum-of-two Katy Gore, 39 , met Princess Kate with son Albie, four, and newborn son Freddie, five weeks.
She said it was “really special” for her children to have met the Princess of Wales.
She said: “It was great. It was really great. She asked me how old my son was and said she remembers what it was like when they were this young.
“She said they are easy now as they just sleep. She was very sweet. She was holding his hand and shaking it. It was so special.
“She also spoke to my other son and asked him about his little brother. I was amazed she stood and talked to us for as long as she did. She was with us for a couple of minutes.”
