Royal couple capture the hearts of crowds on Northern Ireland trip
IT WAS a whistle-stop visit across the Irish Sea, but the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge still managed to capture the hearts of cheering well-wishers in Ballymena yesterday.
Several hundred people lined the streets of the Co Antrim town as William and Kate went on a walkabout during the two-day tour of Northern Ireland.
The crowds, many waving flags, braved the cold outside the Braid Centre.
The couple were there to learn more about the work of Cinemagic, a charity that uses film, television and digital technologies to inspire and educate young people.
It was the first public engagement on the second and final day of their visit to Northern Ireland.
They started yesterday with a private meeting with officers and staff from the Police Service of Northern Ireland at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down. As part of their visit to Ballymena, the couple also visited St Joseph’s SureStart centre in the Dunclug area of the town, which supports parents with children aged under four years.
The Royal couple were officially welcomed to the facility by the Vice Lord Lieutenant for Antrim Richard Reade.
During the Ballymena walkabout, they spoke to members of the public who had been waiting a number of hours to catch a glimpse before heading inside the centre.
Wearing a Mulberry coat, Kate chatted to officials from Mid and East Antrim Council while William spoke to DUP MP Ian Paisley, who presented him with a wooden walking stick.
The couple then talked to Emma Noble and Jack Francis, who played them a short film they recently made, before watching young budding directors and producers as they practised shooting a film.
William also told a young boy that his five-year-old son George loves animated action film How To Train Your Dragon. Young Regan was showing the duke how he makes dragons from pieces of coloured paper when William described how his eldest son loved the children’s film.
The visit to Ballymena comes after a range of high-energy engagements on Wednesday. William and Kate played football at Belfast’s Windsor Park and took part in a canoe race in Co Fermanagh, before rounding the day off by pulling pints at a reception for young leaders at Belfast’s famous Empire music hall.