DPA

Sydney

 

The duke and duchess of Cambridge received a surfboard yesterday in recompense for a day’s work posing for pictures promoting Sydney as a warm and sunny travel destination with friendly people and sandy beaches.

On day three of a 10-day visit to Australia, famously fashion-conscious Kate even slipped into a lacy Zimmermann dress to appease local designers upset at having to wait for a regal endorsement.

The trip to Manly Beach followed a tour of the southern hemisphere’s biggest agricultural show where some claim the duchess made her first public joke, poking fun at her husband’s thinning hair.

Wedged in between a morning at the livestock-and-produce show and the afternoon surf carnival with its ocean backdrop and eager young lifesavers, the couple visited a hospice for children and Kate gave a speech.

“When families are confronted with the shattering news that their children have a life-limiting condition, their world can fall apart,” the duchess said. “It’s at those times that professional support is imperative.”

The duchess has visited similar hospices in Malaysia and New Zealand and is patron of one back home in Britain.

Taking time to spend with the terminally ill gave an insight into the sometimes difficult work of being a member of the House of Windsor.

“It’s such an important lesson they’re teaching us,” said 21-year-old ardent monarchist Rachel Bailes as she handed out Australian flags on Manly Beach.

“It’s not about the person who may assume the throne, although we may really enjoy their personal characteristics - it transcends that. It goes back to what their duty is.”

It was a day given over to the business end of British royal touring, with lots of hand waving, tireless chatting with well-wishers and endlessly good-hearted acceptance of presents that varied widely in style.

There were lighter moments, though, such as William getting teased in public about his rapidly thinning hair.

At the agricultural showground where alpaca wool was on display, Kate suggested a tuft the same tint as William’s hair could be fashioned into a toupee.

The playful exchange was recounted by exhibitor Lyn Crejan.

“The prince was interested in the alpaca and as I showed it to them, the princess said he should put it on his head,” Crejan said. “She said: ‘you need it more than me’ and pointed to his head. He laughed.”

 

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her husband Britain’s Prince William  pose for a photograph with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Manly Lord Mayor Jean Hay standing next to a
surfboard that the local council presented as a gift for the royal couple’s son, Prince George, during
a visit to Sydney’s Manly beach yesterday.

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