ROYALS RETURN
Duke and Duchess meet up with old island friends
THE Duchess of Cambridge once appeared as a “very attractive” Miss Moneypenny at a James Bond-themed party, it was revealed as she and her husband returned to Anglesey to meet familiar faces from their time on the island.
The Duke and Duchess met with members of the 1st Menai Bridge Scout Group on the beach at Llanddwyn in what was described by one of the group’s leaders as a “reunion of friends”.
The Duchess volunteered with the group when she lived on Anglesey, and asked to meet with them during the royal couple’s visit to the island.
Sue Hesketh, the group’s Cub leader, said: “She said how nice it was to see us again, and how happy she was that we were still involved in scouting.
“Prince William also said it was nice to meet us, as he’d heard a lot about us.
“It was funny because, when she started helping out and got stuck in, some of the children got told off when they told their parents that the Duchess had become a helper – they thought they were fibbing.”
Malcolm Rogers, a Scout leader, said: “It was a reunion of friends today. It was so lovely to see the Duchess again.
“She really got stuck in with us and the children and, when we had a James Bond-themed party, she made a very attractive Miss Moneypenny.
“She told us today how much she
enjoyed volunteering with us.”
Christopher Hughes, 16, remembered the Duchess helping with the group when he was just nine years old, and was reintroduced yesterday to the future queen.
Speaking about her work with the group in the past, he said: “We didn’t know who she was at first, but we were told she was important.
“It was very exciting at the time, but really she was very normal with us.”
The Duke and Duchess also joined a beach cleaning with children from Ysgol Santes Dwynwen, which opened just a week ago.
Teacher Manon Williams said: “The Duke and Duchess were really lovely with the children. They asked them a lot of questions about the environment. You can tell they really care.
“Prince William said he loved Llanddwyn, and praised the children for helping to keep it clean.”
Anglesey was famously the home of the royal couple between 2010 to 2013, when the Duke worked as an RAF search and rescue pilot.
The couple were spotted regularly around the island, with the White Eagle pub in Rhoscolyn becoming a favourite spot and the Duchess being seen in Waitrose in Menai Bridge.
As well as visiting Llanddwyn, yesterday they also went to the Caernarfon Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter Base, where they viewed the Sikorsky S92 helicopters and met members of the team, many of whom previously worked alongside the Duke at RAF Valley.
The Duke and Duchess also joined a discussion with crew members about the mental health challenges that result from working as first responders, and met staff from the Wales Air Ambulance, which operates next door to the base.
From Caernarfon, their Royal Highnesses travelled to Anglesey to visit Halen Môn Anglesey Sea Salt, where they saw the salt-making process from hand-harvesting to packaging.