During a royal outing to a primary school in Scotland, the Princess of Wales charmed the children in an honest yet unexpected response to a child asking who she was
When mingling with the public during royal outings and engagements, Princess Kate is often probed with questions about the reality of royal life.
While most people who come in contact with Kate are over the moon to meet the senior royal, some spectators have been dumbfounded over all the fuss. One such instance came in 2023 during a trip alongside Prince William to a primary school in Scotland. The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Burghead Primary School in Moray, where the royal couple toured the school, met with excited students, and Kate even volunteered to time a bike race between two pupils.
During their meeting with the kids, Catherine gave one student a high-five and commented: “I really like your school,” before one cheeky child asked the future Queen: “Who are you?”
In a humble and charming response, Kate pointed to her husband and responded: “I’m married to William,” choosing to omit her plethora of royal titles from the school-aged children. Kate’s identity was later called into question by another child at the school, who asked her casually: “Are you a Prince?”
Shaking her head as she clarified, Kate said humbly: “I’m not a Prince. I’m the Duchess of Cambridge. Lots of people call me Catherine.”
When another little girl shouted out: “She’s a Princess!” Kate sweetly asked her, “Are you? Are you a Princess?” When the girl shook her head, Kate replied: “Aww, you look like one in your beautiful pink coat.”
Later in the day, William became the subject of another sassy child who asked him how old he was, and when the prince asked what age the pupils think he is, he acted shocked when they replied 57, and said: “I’m not that old.”
Kate is no stranger to cases of mistaken identity while on royal outings, as she encountered another hilarious conversation with a home care resident in 2020.
The Prince and Princess of Wales joined together for an outing to the home care facility in Cardiff in 2020 to meet with residents they had previously spoken to on Zoom during the early days of the pandemic.
The royal couple spoke with 87-year-old Joan Drew-Smith, who was quick to question their bingo skills, after they had taken part in a game online with the residents.
William quipped to Joan: “You may not recognise us, but we played bingo with you and you won. But you said we didn’t do a very good job?” Joan cheekily responded: “No, you did a s*** job,” to which William responded with a laugh: “Excellent!”
Joan then turned her attention to Kate, who was sitting next to William wearing a mask, as she asked: “Is this your assistant?” Kate laughed and replied: “Well, I’m his assistant! I have been for a long time!”
Following the resident’s sassy outspokenness, William told the staff he “adored Joan”, saying after the visit: “She’s brilliant.” Despite her now global fame, there was a time before her marriage to William in 2011 that no one recognised the Princess of Wales.
According to royal butler Grant Harrold, Kate was left “standing alone” at King Charles ’ 60th birthday in 2008, with no one attempting to engage with her.
He told MyLondon: “I went over and chatted to her while we waited for Will to come in and it was quite sweet. But now – could you imagine Kate in the middle of a room and no one speaking to her? It just wouldn’t happen, she’d be mobbed.”
