Derry girl Kate is pretty in purple as she scoffs Tayto on royal trip to North
PRINCE William and his wife Kate were plunged into a ‘culture shock’ in Derry as they sampled brown bread and Tayto crisps in an initiative to welcome new students.
The royal couple were quizzed on how to pronounce Irish names and learned some of the city’s colloquial phrases which have become world famous thanks to the hit TV show Derry Girls.
Kate also showed her fearlessness by handling a tarantula.
It came during a visit to the Ulster University, where they met the first cohort of students at the new medical school as well as the first-year group on the new paramedic science programme at the Magee campus.
Crowds of students turned out to see the royal visitors yesterday morning, watching on as they took an interest in a display of animals organised by local mobile zoo company KidzFarm, which regularly comes to the campus to help students deal with mental health and anxiety issues.
As well as rabbits and goats, there were also some wilder species.
William handled a snake, describing it as ‘very cool’ and adding: ‘George [his son] is obsessed with snakes, he’s going to be so upset he missed this.’
Kate then asked to hold the tarantula, asking what its name was.
Told she was called Charlotte – the same as the royal couple’s daughter – Kate laughed: ‘Is she really?’
As Charlotte started moving a little further up Kate’s hand, William joked that the spider was animated by his wife’s outfit – a purple trouser suit by Emilia Wickstead.
Next, fortifying shots of whiskey and half-pints of Guinness were on offer for the couple at the students’ union, before they were plunged into the culture shock event designed to introduce students to Northern Ireland.
One student asked whether the drinks were intended as the hair of the dog following the couple’s attendance at the James Bond premiere in London the previous night, to which William responded: ‘Ah, there was no drink last night unfortunately.’
The couple were shown names such as Aoife, Áine, Cathal and Daithí on a laptop screen at the students’ union, before the phonetic pronunciation was revealed, as they listened carefully and repeated. ‘I’m going to have another drink, I’m not doing very well at this,’ joked William.
They also tucked into a range of local food, including wheaten bread – a brown soda bread made with wheat flour – and Tayto crisps.
Next was a lesson on some local expressions, including, ‘Give us a juke at that’, ‘Let’s head out for a wee dander’, ‘This is pure wick, so it is’ and, ‘Alright mucker’.
Student union president Owen McClaskey and nursing student Abigail McGarvey hosted the couple during the visit.
Mr McClaskey said the visit had been ‘great’, while Ms McGarvey said it had been an ‘incredible’ experience to welcome the couple.
‘I think if there was another two hours in this tour, they would have stayed,’ Mr McClaskey added.
‘I’m going to have another drink’