Prince William has revealed he once had a part-time job as a young boy selling CDs at a “dodgy car boot sale”. The Prince of Wales made the admission during a visit to the Welsh village of Skenfrith, where he was learning about flood defences.
The memory was prompted by Rod Wyatt, a former customer who reminded William of the encounter. Mr Wyatt told the prince: “First time I met you, you were this high,” holding up his hand waist high. “In Glanusk Estate – you sold me a CD from a bric-a-brac stall.”
Prince William jokes about reopening his stall
William laughed and replied: “Dodgy car boot sale, yes, I remember that.” Mr Wyatt joked: “Still doing that?” and the future king joked: “No, I don’t sell… it’s dried up a bit that one, perhaps I should reopen it.”
Mr Wyatt’s wife added that they could not remember the title of the CD, and the prince confessed: “I got up to a lot… we had some fun round there.” Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell is the family home of William’s former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now known as Alexandra Pettifer, and is the venue of the popular Green Man Festival.
Flood-hit village and a holistic approach
The visit came as William said a “holistic” approach to tackle extreme flooding is needed. He met villagers living with the threat of the upcoming storm season and sympathised with residents in Skenfrith who might be “anxious” about extreme weather events he said were no longer “one in 50-year” occurrences but seemed to be happening every year.
Skenfrith has faced four major floods in six years, but the most recent last winter caused the biggest impact there after the River Monnow swept through the village after Storm Claudia brought a month’s rain in 24 hours to parts of England and Wales.
Regenerative farming and tree planting
William was visiting the area to learn about how communities have been affected by recent flooding and what measures are being taken by local authorities and other agencies to mitigate future incidents. The future king even got behind the wheel of a tractor sowing winter wheat with the aid of satellite navigation, when he visited the Duchy of Cornwall’s first regenerative farm tenant.
The prince also joined volunteers harvesting seeds from a field maple tree and planted a sessile oak tree – designated as the national tree of Wales. To access the trees, William had to climb over a barbed wire fence and used a small step – joking that he did not want to rip his trousers.
As he harvested seeds from the tree, he noted that he was “taller” than others present, adding: “I’m going to reach up here and get these higher ones”. The charity collected 35,000 seeds last year that were used to grow new trees for planting, and hopes to increase this to 60,000 this year.
