The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge carried out their first engagement of their Caribbean Platinum Jubilee Tour on Sunday, visiting a local cacao farm to learn how the small, family-run farm produces world-famous Mayan chocolate.
William and Kate visited Julio, who runs the Che’il Mayan Cacao Farm and Chocolate Factory in the Maya Center Village, on Sunday afternoon, for a demonstration and a tour of the farm’s facilities.
After watching Julio and his team produce the cacao nibs needed to create the famous Mayan chocolate, Kate quipped: “You make it look so easy!” and later stated that their children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—“will be very jealous” to know that they were sampling chocolate from a homemade chocolate fountain that they dipped tortilla chips in.
The royal couple then joined in, producing their own batches of chocolate by using the traditional mano and metate necessary to chocolate production. William asked Julio, after rolling his chocolate, “Do you take apprentices? Can I come and work for you? It’s my kind of thing.”
Kensington Palace later shared photos of the engagement on social media, captioning the photos: “It was an incredible experience to see first hand how this world famous chocolate was made – using all organic products, all grown on their land or nearby.
“We can see why this is loved all around the world!”
After their visit to the Che’il Mayan Cacao Farm and Chocolate Factory, the royals continued on to Hopkins, a coastal village in Belize, to learn more about the Garifuna culture and ended the day with a marine conservation engagement.
William and Kate continue their visit to Belize through to 22 March before continuing on to Jamaica and the Bahamas later this week. Royal Central will continue to bring you the latest coverage of the Cambridges in the Caribbean.
