Duke shares 40th birthday cake with Big Issue partner

THE Duke of Cambridge has taken slices of his 40th birthday cake to share with the Big Issue vendor who took him under his wing for a day of royal work experience.

The Duke, who turned 40 yesterday, was seen shaking hands with Dave Martin, 60, and handing over the gift as he worked his regular pitch outside a branch of Tesco in Hammersmith.

Mr Martin interviewed Prince William for the publication and let him borrow his card machine to rack up a record sale of 32 copies in 45 minutes for the undercover excursion.

This week, the Duke wrote about his experience in the Big Issue, saying he wanted to use his birthday to renew his pledge to do all he can to shed light on the problem of homelessness “even more than I have in the past”.

He spent the rest of the day working at Kensington Palace and was expected to clock off in time to have a birthday tea with his three children.

A source confirmed he made the trip to Mr Martin’s regular pitch to catch up with his one-time colleague and thank him for sharing his own story as part of the project to raise public awareness of homelessness.