The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge undertook various engagements on Tuesday as they spent St David’s Day in Wales. The day is the Feast of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. Falling on the first of March every year, the date marks when Saint David died in 589 AD. Traditional festivities of St David’s Day include wearing daffodils and leeks, eating traditional Welsh food, and women wearing traditional Welsh dress.
The Duke and Duchess visited Pant Farm in Llanvetherine, near Abergavenny where they revealed how their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis helped with their animals during half term. William and Kate learned about the challenges and opportunities faced by the sector and how the farm works with local services and industries. The goat farm has provided milk to a local cheese producer for nearly 20 years.
The Duchess, who studied agricultural management at Cambridge University in 2014, shared a little bit of her family history related to goat farming with her hosts: “I was looking into my ancestry and there was someone who was a rare breed goat farmer. I will have to find out which on it was. It was just after the First World War.”
After visiting the Abergavenny Market to learn how important local supplies are to rural communities, the Duke and Duchess later embarked on their first joint walkabout since the global health crisis began about two years ago.
It was then on to the Blaenavon Hwb for the next engagement of the day. The community-focused youth center helps support more than 600 local young people. The Hwb helps ensure the next generation can reach their full potential by providing a space for alternative education, supporting care-experienced and vulnerable young people. The couple chatted with some of the 11 to 25-year-olds in which the charity helps and even got a bit messy in the kitchen as they had a go at making Welsh cakes.
Finishing off, the Duke and Duchess planted a tree in Blaenavon as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. An initiative to help increase and protect the native tree cover while also dedicating a “special gift” to Her Majesty as she marks 70 years on the throne.
The Duke and Duchess last made a joint visit to Wales in November 2020 when they stopped at Cardiff during their Royal Train Tour. The country dates back to the early days of their relationship. William moved to Anglesey in north Wales for his job in the Royal Air Force and Kate, his then-girlfriend moved in with him a few months later. The pair owned a four-bedroom country cottage on the Bodorgan Estate from 2010 to 2013.
