Prince Louis left his mother speechless when he revealed during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow that his favourite sport is high jump. The eight-year-old made the admission while chatting to athletes, prompting Prince William to joke: “That’s news to us!”
The Prince and Princess of Wales brought Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, to the Games on Saturday (August 1). The children cheered on competitors, high-fived the mascot and met athletes during what was their first public appearance in Scotland and Prince Louis’s debut at a major sporting event.
Action-packed day at Glasgow 2026
The family of five took in netball, track, cycling and judo over the course of the day. Their outing began at the Hydro with a tense netball semi-final, where Jamaica edged out Australia by a single point.
As they headed outside, the sunshine briefly appeared. The royals were greeted by a line-up of 20 volunteers and cheered on by large crowds gathered outside the gates as word spread that they would be coming out.
At the velodrome, the Wales family watched the cycling alongside Sir Chris Hoy, Laura Kenny and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, before moving on to judo.
Meeting the gymnasts at Wales House
The final stop of their busy day was Wales House in the centre of Glasgow. William and Catherine led their children over to speak to identical twin gymnasts Abigail and Emily Roper, who had won bronze medals within an hour of each other earlier in the week.
The family chatted with the athletes and their parents for more than five minutes, asking about their achievements and how they prepared for the Games. Catherine asked: “And what are you doing? As Charlotte was asking, are you doing a lot of stretching and conditioning?”
The twins nodded and said they do a mix of both to stay strong and flexible. The Princess then turned to her youngest son and said: “Louis, you’re perfecting your handstand at the moment.”
“A bit,” he replied, with his arms crossed, “But Charlotte says I’m not very good.” When the twins asked whether Charlotte could do a handstand, she said: “Yeah.” Asked the same question, George made his mother laugh as he told them: “I’m rubbish at anything that involves flexibility.”
Charlotte said her favourite part of gymnastics is the floor, and her mother added: “Charlotte likes her dancing”. Overhearing the conversation, William said: “She loves gymnastics and ballet.” The Welsh gymnasts then presented Charlotte with a Team Wales leotard signed by the athletes.
School sports day and javelin
William, George, Charlotte and Louis then sat down with Para-athletes Aled Davies and Olivia Breen, and 400m runner Charlotte Henrich, while Catherine stayed behind to talk with the gymnasts. During that conversation, Louis mentioned that he had recently taken part in his first school sports day, and George said his favourite event is the javelin.
Catherine later joined the table and was told: “Louis was saying he likes high jump.” She turned to her son and asked: “Louis, you like high jump?”
“Yeah,” he replied moodily, prompting several of the athletes to burst out laughing and William to joke: “That’s news to us!”
