Princess Kate and Prince William’s banter was on full display during their surprise visit to Northern Ireland today.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ first stop during their unannounced visit on Tuesday, October 14, was to the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service’s newly established Learning and Development College in Cookstown.
At one point in the tour, the future king and queen were being driven around in a firetruck, but Kate wanted to see her husband take the wheel — a request which was firmly shut down.
According to Hello! magazine, newly graduated firefighters Caoimhe McNeice and Piarais McCaffery made the revelation after accompanying William and Kate for the ride.
“She was wanting the Prince to drive [the fire truck], but no, the driver got us there safely anyway,” revealed McNeice, 25.
McCaffery, 32, added, “The Princess was saying, ‘I’d love to drive at the real speed and have the sirens on,’ but they were getting to the water rescue [area], it was just a bit of banter,”
The firefighters also sung praises of William and Kate, who appeared to be “very genuine and interested. “They were both lovely, great, down to earth people. It was great to showcase our Learning and Development College to them, and they were blown away by it,” McCaffery revealed.
Indeed, the royal couple looked excited to witness the ongoing training and drills, as seen in photographs of the visit shared by Kensington Palace to their official Instagram account.
“A brilliant visit to the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service’s new Learning and Development College in Cookstown. A world-class facility helping to train the next generation of firefighters,” read a caption.