William and Sophie sample gin during rare joint outing

Glasgow Times

13 hours ago

William and Sophie touched paper cups and said 'cheers' as they sampled the drink at the Royal Cornwall Show – the prince's first visit as the Duke of Cornwall.
The pair were mobbed by crowds at the event at Whitecross, Wadebridge near Bodmin, who wanted selfies with William and to shake their hands.
The Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Edinburgh try local cider during a visit to the Food and Farming Pavilion at the Royal Cornwall Show (Chris Jackson/PA)
The prince and duchess tried Saint Sithney Cornish gin and afterwards William described it as 'very light'.
They also sampled the prince's favourite tipple, cider, and as the alcohol consumption mounted William joked about stronger spirits: 'I've been caught out with whisky a few times – I think I can do it, then it catches you out.'
The pair spent the first few moments touring food stalls and stopped at jellies, jams and other produce made by the husband and wife team Wendy and Andy Knight from Home Farm Cornwall.
William spread some spicy pumpkin chutney onto a piece of popadom, after asking for something 'not too hot' and quipped: 'When anyone says a little bit of spice – it's quite hot.'
But he approved of the taste: 'Yummy, really good, there's definitely a bit of spice.'
William and Sophie sample produce made by the husband and wife team of Wendy and Andy Knight from Home Farm Cornwall (Chris Jackson/PA)
The prince knew what he wanted when they visited the Rattler Cornish Cider stall and turned down an offer of an alcohol free drink, saying he '(needed) the real stuff, cannot drink zero' and asked for the 'original'.
He told Laura Clerehug who was manning the stand that 'everyone remembers their first Rattler' and after taking a drink, said: 'Needs a bit of ice in it, like a bit of ice.'
During his tour of the show, William was intrigued by a robot dog-like device being developed by the University of Plymouth that can test the biodiversity of agricultural land, with farmers from William's Duchy of Cornwall participating in the research.
He quipped 'what will the sheep make of that – dogs hate it I'm sure' – and watched as it rolled on to its back like a real canine.
In the Duchy of Cornwall hub marquee, a large number of mental health charities and organisations working in Cornwall had been gathered and he chatted intently to the representatives.
Husband and wife Serena and Elliott Jolly founded Sunrise Cornwall, after Mrs Jolly's younger brother committed suicide, to provide safe spaces for bereaved family and friends to talk and share their experiences.
Gesturing around to the other organisations, William suggested to the couple they all 'find a way to help each other out, the synergy will make a greater impact, I hope that's something you can talk about'.
Mrs Jolly said afterwards: 'Suicide isn't a dirty word, we have to be able to talk about it.'