Prince William today thanked Welsh schoolchildren for giving him a bouquet of flowers for his wife Kate as she continues to recover from surgery at home.
The Prince of Wales received the gift for the Princess from a group of three pupils at All Saints’ Primary School during his trip to Wrexham to mark St David’s Day.
They gave him Welsh dragon toys for his three children – and then flowers for Kate. The Prince told them: ‘I’ll pass them onto Catherine as well, thank you very much.’
Kate will not carry out any official royal engagements until after Easter following abdominal surgery in January – and Kensington Palace insists she is still ‘doing well’.
While at the school – known as Ysgol yr Holl Saint in Welsh – William also saw their traditional ways of marking the day, which celebrates the patron saint of Wales.
The children took part in traditional Welsh folk dancing called Dawnsio Gwerin and baked Bara Brith, a Welsh tea bread flavoured with dried fruits and spices.
The Prince also met Year 6 pupils learning about the Gresford Mining Disaster, which saw 266 men killed in an explosion and underground fire in September 1934.
Earlier in the day, the Prince poured a pint and downed a whisky with Hollywood star Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub next to Wrexham AFC – the world’s oldest pub at a sports stadium, which featured in the Disney+ ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series.
William receives flowers for Kate from pupils at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales thanks children at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham for the flowers
The Prince of Wales meets pupils at All Saints ‘ Primary School in Wrexham this afternoon
William speaks to pupils on a visit to Ysgol Yr Holl Saint/All Saints’ School in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales speaks to children in Wrexham as part of his visit to North Wales today
The Prince of Wales meets pupils at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham this afternoon
The Prince of Wales visited the school in Wrexham to see its celebrations for St David’s Day
The Prince with headteacher Richard Hatwood at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
Prince William speaks to schoolchildren in Wrexham during his visit to Wales this afternoon
The Prince of Wales speaks to children in Wrexham as part of his visit to North Wales today
The Prince with headteacher Richard Hatwood at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales meets pupils at All Saints ‘ Primary School in Wrexham this afternoon
The Prince of Wales speaks to children in Wrexham as part of his visit to North Wales today
Prince William speaks to schoolchildren in Wrexham during his visit to Wales this afternoon
The Prince with headteacher Richard Hatwood at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales visited the school in Wrexham to see its celebrations for St David’s Day
The Prince of Wales speaks to children in Wrexham as part of his visit to North Wales today
Prince William speaks to schoolchildren in Wrexham during his visit to Wales this afternoon
The Prince with headteacher Richard Hatwood at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales speaks to children in Wrexham as part of his visit to North Wales today
The Prince of Wales visited the school in Wrexham to see its celebrations for St David’s Day
The Prince with headteacher Richard Hatwood at All Saints’ Primary School in Wrexham today
He met staff, charity workers and locals to learn about the venue – then walked onto the pitch at the team’s Racecouse Ground to hear accounts of the club’s rise since the 2021 takeover by McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds , and meet staff and players.
Reynolds was in New York today and could not be present while he edits the next Deadpool film, but MailOnline understands he hopes to meet William later this year.
The Prince also met with Welsh speakers from Patagonia – and inside the stadium, he was presented with a Wrexham AFC shirt by footballers Ben Tozer and Luke Young.
On the road outside the pub, a three-year-old girl called Florence Boyle presented William with a daffodil and blew him a kiss, before the Prince thanked her with a high five. They then posed for a photo with her mother Katie, 35, and father David, 37.
William also quizzed diehard fans about their fairytale ride with Reynolds and McElhenney, who bought Wrexham AFC and revived the club’s fortunes.
The future King met McElhenney and regulars in the Turf pub, a stone’s throw from Wrexham’s ground, and praised their achievements, which have boosted tourism and last season saw the club promoted to the Football League after a 15-year absence.
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney have a drink at The Turf today
Prince William pours a pint with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf today
Prince William pours a pint with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf today
Prince William takes a look at the pint he pulled at The Turf pub in Wrexham today
Prince William with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney have a drink at The Turf today
Prince William receives a daffodil from three-year-old girl Florence Boyle in Wrexham today
William with Katie Boyle, 35, husband David Boyle, 37, and their daughter Florence, 3, today
Prince William receives a personalised Wrexham shirt from Rob McElhenney and players Luke Young and Ben Tozer on the pitch at the Racecourse Ground after his visit to The Turf today
Prince William with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
The Prince of Wales poses for a selfie during his visit to The Turf pub in Wrexham today
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney have a drink at The Turf today
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC manager Phil Parkinson in Wrexham today
The Prince of Wales poses for a selfie during his visit to The Turf pub in Wrexham today
Prince William with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
Prince William behind the bar with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
Prince William with players Luke Young and Ben Tozer at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground today
Prince William high fives a little girl called Florence Boyle while visiting Wrexham today
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney pour a drink at The Turf today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
The Prince of Wales laughs during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney pour a drink at The Turf today
The Prince of Wales meets with members of the local community at The Turf in Wrexham today
Prince William with players Luke Young and Ben Tozer at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground today
Prince William and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney smile at The Turf pub today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
The Prince of Wales smiles during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
The Prince of Wales poses for a selfie during his visit to The Turf pub in Wrexham today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at the Racecourse Ground today during the visit
Prince William looks at a phone as he visits The Turf Pub in Wrexham this morning
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
William meets with Welsh speakers from Patagonia during his visit to Wrexham this morning
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
William speaks with Wrexham AFC executive director Humphrey Ker at The Turf pub today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
Wrexham AFC chief executive Fleur Robinson and Prince William at the Racecourse Ground
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William speaks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
The Prince of Wales smiles during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
William meets with Welsh speakers from Patagonia during his visit to Wrexham this morning
The Prince of Wales smiles during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
The Prince of Wales claps during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
The Prince of Wales laughs during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
The Prince of Wales stands on the pitch at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham today
He said: ‘It’s a great success story you’re building here, everything you’ve started and achieved it’s fantastic, so onwards and upwards – it’s exciting.
‘And anyone who’s a true football fan wants to see you do well.’
McElhenney and tenant landlord Wayne Jones took William behind the bar and he tried to pull a pint of the popular Madri lager. His first effort was all foam and declared ‘horrendous’ by the prince and his second was not much better.
‘Still got a horrible head on it, that’s why I don’t work behind the bar. That might settle in about an hour, talk among yourselves,’ he quipped.
McElhenney suggested his own blended American whisky brand, Four Walls, and the pair each knocked back a shot. William also told McElhenney that he ‘loves’ cider.
Also today, William visited the memorial to what was one of Britain’s worst coal mining disasters and meet relatives of those who were killed – as well as people involved in setting up the memorial and preserving its history.
The disaster happened in the early hours of the morning when the number of workers on site was much larger than usual because many had doubled their shifts so they could watch a Wrexham football match later that day.
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
The Prince of Wales meets with members of the local community at The Turf in Wrexham today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at the Racecourse Ground today during the visit
The Prince of Wales smiles during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC manager Phil Parkinson in Wrexham today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney with Prince William at the Racecourse Ground today
William speaks with Wrexham AFC executive director Humphrey Ker at The Turf pub today
Wrexham AFC chief executive Fleur Robinson and Prince William at the Racecourse Ground
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at the Racecourse Ground today during the visit
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
Prince William talks with Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub today
Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney at the Racecourse Ground today during the visit
The Prince of Wales during his visit to The Turf pub near Wrexham AFC this morning
William also met members from the Wrexham Miners Rescue Station which opened in 1913 to train rescuers in techniques on how to save miners.
In 1934, many of those who trained at the station helped in the mission to save workers trapped in the Gresford disaster, with three of them losing their lives.
It comes after William yesterday visited a London synagogue to meet young people representing Jewish students and others helping to combat antisemitism among the next generation to ‘reassure you all that people do care’.
During his visit, the Prince condemned the rise in hatred directed against the country’s Jewish community, saying ‘antisemitism has no place in society’.
William with Alan Jones, chairman of the Gresford disaster memorial, and George Powell, lead volunteer at the Wrexham Miners Project, during a visit to the site in Wrexham today
Prince William speaks with Alan Jones, chairman of the Gresford disaster memorial today
The Prince of Wales meets Ruby McBurney, a surviving child of a Gresford disaster victim, during a visit to the Gresford Colliery Disaster memorial in Wales today
William holds the hand of Ruby McBurney, a surviving child of a Gresford disaster victim, today
He also spent a time with Holocaust survivor Renee Salt, 94, and held her hand after she recounted her fears about the rise in hatred and told her: ‘It must be horrible for all of you worrying about this and I’m sorry it’s got to this…it will get better.’
The Princess of Wales was due to join William for the synagogue visit which had been planned to mark Holocaust Memorial Day but she is recovering from an abdominal operation.
Mrs Salt remembered Kate when she spoke with William, saying: ‘I’m sure if your wife would have been well she would have been here I miss her so much, give her my best wishes.’
William’s visit came a week after he called for an end to the fighting in Gaza, which he said had seen ‘too many killed’.
Kate is away from official royal engagements until after Easter following major surgery in January.
On Tuesday, William pulled out of attending a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle due to an unspecified ‘personal matter’.
The Prince of Wales sits with young people affected by antisemitism, together with Holocaust Educational Trust ambassadors, as he visits the Western Marble Arch Synagogue yesterday
William shakes hands with Renee Salt, 94, a Holocaust survivor, at the synagogue yesterday
Rabbi Daniel Epstein shows William a 17th-century Torah scroll at the synagogue yesterday
Princess Andrew leads royals to attend a thanksgiving service for King Constantine of Greece at St George’s Chapel in Windsor on Tuesday. Prince William pulled out at the last minute
Camilla stands with Princess Anne and Greece’s Queen Anne-Marie in Windsor on Tuesday
Kate was last seen on Christmas Day 2023 with her family attending church at Sandringham
Kensington Palace would not elaborate further but said Kate still continues to be ‘doing well’ – guidance that it again reiterated yesterday.
A royal spokesman added yesterday: ‘Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands.’
William, who was due to deliver a reading at Tuesday’s service in St George’s Chapel, called the Greek royal family to let them know he was unable to attend.
Constantine II of Greece, who died in January last year, was William’s godfather.
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