Shaken, not stirred! The Prince and Princess of Wales couldn’t let their visit to Northern Ireland pass without a little friendly competition, and so the royal couple tried their bar skills at a cocktail competition.
William and Catherine visited the Trademarket, an outdoor street-food vendor and marketplace in Belfast where they met with Will Neill, the man behind the project to learn more about Trademarket.
According to Kensington Palace, Neill had the idea for a “vibrant, welcoming and diverse site” for new businesses of “different backgrounds to work alongside each other” in a less-frequently visited area of Belfast. Trademarket came to fruition after three years of planning thanks to a Belfast software company, Kainos, that offered the space for “a peppercorn rent.”
William and Catherine also met with Kainos representatives to learn why supporting the local business community was important to them.
“It was an honour to meet The Prince and Princess of Wales during their trip to Belfast today, and we were delighted to spend time with them alongside William Neill and the vendors at Trademarket,” said Kainos’s Chief People Officer, Colette Kidd, in a statement.
“They were particularly interested in hearing about the work we do through the Kainos Academy, which includes coding camps, our Earn as you Learn apprenticeship scheme, and outreach activities designed to support young people and underrepresented groups to pursue careers in technology. I’m so pleased that some colleagues who joined us through the Academy got to share their own stories today.”
Trademarket, in addition to being a site for independent vendors, is also ethically and environmentally sustainable; there are no single-use plastics at the site and the staff are paid a living wage. The royal couple met with vendors to learn more about their businesses and why Trademarket is important to them.
The royals then took part in a mixology race to see who could put together the fastest cocktail—with William winning. Kensington Palace shared a video of William and Catherine racing, with the caption, “Who did it better?”
The royals are carrying out engagements in Northern Ireland for the first time since being named Prince and Princess of Wales. In Northern Ireland, they are known as Baron and Lady Carrickfergus, subsidiary titles granted to them by Queen Elizabeth II on their wedding day in 2011.
