Kate and her date with the in-laws

She parades military look as Charles gives Wills a hand

IT was a rare and rather heartwarming display of father-son camaraderie.

Watching from the sidelines as Prince William had a somewhat unsuccessful crack at wheelchair basketball yesterday, Prince Charles couldn’t help but jump in and give his son a helping hand.

As shot after shot failed to go in the net, ‘Pa’ stepped on to the court at the new Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Nottinghamshire, and gave William’s chair a nudge towards the basket.

Kate, suitably dressed in a military-style jacket and skirt, watched as her husband looked defeated, his shoulders slumping after yet another ball went wide of the net.

‘It’s not going to go in!’ he complained. But Charles gave him an encouraging squeeze of the shoulders – and with that he finally netted the ball, prompting celebrations from both father and son.

Major Les Richardson, 49, of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, lent William his wheelchair, and said of the prince: ‘I don’t think he wanted to get in the wheelchair but I encouraged him to have a try.

‘He is a good sport. Clearly he wasn’t a basketball player at school. His dad gave him a little push closer to see if he could help. They had a chuckle.’

Kate’s striking skirt suit by Alexander McQueen was thought to be a tribute to the designer, whose label was behind her wedding dress, on the tenth anniversary of his death.

The visit to the centre, which offers rehabilitation to serving members of the Armed Forces, was a rare joint engagement for Charles, wife Camilla, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – and is a sign of things to come after Harry and Meghan’s retreat from public duties.

With the new ‘Fab Four’ presenting a united front, it was business as usual yesterday as William, Kate and Camilla travelled together by train from London, with Charles driving from Highgrove. All four returned by train on tickets costing £66.50 per person.

With four royal visitors, the engagement was perhaps more chaotic for the hosts than it would usually be. At one point William joked it was bad enough when there were just two of them, adding: ‘When there’s four of us it’s a nightmare.’

‘There’s too many of us!’ Charles added.

Lance Corporal Jack Silverwood, of the 1st Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, was among those who greeted the royals.

The 24-year-old had a bionic hand fitted after losing his arm in accident in Germany. Charles spotted a tattoo on his left arm, and pointing to his injured one, joked: ‘He hasn’t got room for another tattoo.’

The pair shook hands, and Charles added: ‘It’s like something out of a James Bond film!’

In the gym Charles stopped to chat with Emmanuel Bajowa, of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who had suffered a fractured skull and was doing sit-ups as part of his training.

He said afterwards: ‘The prince told me my sit-ups looked agony and asked about my injury. He told me to keep going. I’m not sure if he meant the sit ups or generally!’

The family excursion came as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday announced plans for an official visit to Ireland next month – a trip that is likely to be seen as a diplomacy visit in the wake of Brexit.

It also emerged the couple are pencilled in to visit Australia this year to express Britain’s solidarity with the country after the recent bushfires and to visit some of those affected. New royal split – Pages 12&13

‘He clearly didn’t play at school’