Prince William appeared to have lost his voice celebrating his beloved Aston Villa's historic win as he arrived for a series of engagements in Cornwall. The Prince of Wales was in a buoyant mood as he toured Nansledan in Newquay the day after watching his side roar to victory in the Europa League final in Istanbul.
Wearing a blue shirt and claret tie in honour of the team he has supported since childhood, he was 40 minutes late and clearly still revelling in their success, joking about losing his voice and saying, 'I'm trying not to talk about it all day!'
One local in the crowd shook the prince's hand and said: 'I just thought I'd ask, did you have any sleep last night?' William laughed and replied: 'You might hear it in my voice. On best behaviour!'
On arrival, William was presented with posies of flowers from Year 2 and Year 4 of Nansledan Primary School and younger children from the Naturally Learning Nursery. He apologised for sounding croaky, telling them: 'I'm losing my voice.'
The conversation quickly moved on to favourite football teams. Told that two of the children were Arsenal fans, he remarked on their success in winning the league and their forthcoming Champions League final game, saying: 'You've got a big match next week.'
After hearing a little girl was a Chelsea fan, he said of Princess Charlotte: 'My daughter loves Chelsea.' He was later asked by a man in the crowd to send a message to his partner who wasn't able to join him for the occasion. William happily obliged, looking into a camera to say 'Rebecca, happy birthday, what birthday is it?' Told it was 38, he joked, 'Quite a few candles.' When it turned out the phone hadn't been recording, William gamely tried again.
The heir to the throne also posed for selfies, shook hands and petted a 15-week-old cocker spaniel called Professor Lupin, saying: 'Hello, you're very sweet! I love dogs, ours are Orla and Otto. Is he behaving in the house? Is he chewing everything? Ours chew slippers. Anything left on the floor is gone.'
William was in Cornwall to see plans for Nansledan's Market Street development, one of the first new high streets of its kind to be built in more than a century. Once complete in 2028, it will provide commercial space for local artisans and businesses, supporting a vibrant local economy and community.
After his walkabout, William walked down the hill to see Nansledan's first Build-to-Rent homes, stopping to chat to Nick and Jess Dunston and their young daughter Rosie, who have moved there from Truro. Nick, a carpenter, and Jess, a local practice manager, are among the first residents of the three-bedroom homes. 'When you were looking for a place, what made you come here?' asked William. Citing having family nearby and the open spaces, Jess told him: 'We love it here. It's a really nice upbringing for Rosie here. We do feel really lucky.' 'I have to say, when we signed up [with the Duchy of Cornwall scheme] we didn't expect to meet you personally,' joked Nick.
The Prince then joined locals, including six-year-old Iggy, to leave hand prints in clay, to make the cast for an artwork for Nansledan's new Market Street development. 'Get some more weight on that, Iggy,' said the Prince, adding 'Push through the table! Wiggle your fingers.'
The conversation returned to Aston Villa briefly, with someone commenting on goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. 'He played with a broken finger last night,' said William. 'You don't need to break your fingers, Iggy.' William then repeated the handprints in a separate piece of clay with officials from the development project, 'It does smell like Play Doh,' he said.
Nansledan is an ambitious and sustainable urban extension to Newquay, which is being developed by the Duchy of Cornwall. Market Street represents a key milestone in the suburb's continued growth, which already includes around 900 homes, a primary school, offices, a community centre and more than 40 local businesses, alongside extensive green spaces such as wildflower meadows, parkland, orchards, wetlands, ponds, community allotments, play areas and a skatepark.
William also visited the housing development to see the final stages of the £3m project, including 24 low-carbon homes purpose-built to address homelessness. The first residents are due to move in this summer to the Garth Ellis site, named after the founder of St Petrocs, the homelessness charity. The project is a collaboration between St Petrocs, the Royal Foundation's Homewards programme and the Duke of Cornwall's Charitable Foundation, to provide housing solutions for homeless people in Cornwall.
The Duchy is working on the project with the long-term aim of helping people move from temporary accommodation at Nansledan into permanent homes. It will provide residents with a range of 'wraparound services', including mental health support, counselling, training and employment opportunities, in what Kensington Palace described as the Duchy's 'first innovative housing project to help address homelessness'.
Touring one of the houses which is under construction, William met with Max Hedges, 28, a former client of St Petrocs from 2023 to 2025, who has been closely involved with the Duchy on development of the new homes at the site, including attending Duchy meetings during the initial phases of the Nansledan scheme. Max, who lives with his mother while saving to buy a home with his girlfriend, has just started a fundraising job in Bristol. William recalled meeting Max while he was a St Petrocs client. 'How's life now?' he asked him. 'It's amazing,' he told him. 'I've got such a good friendship group, I'm working, I'm part of the community. I'm still getting it wrong, that's part of life.' William replied: 'We all get it wrong, we all get it wrong. How has it been with the building blocks, has it been steady step by step, that wraparound support from St Petrocs has given you confidence again?' 'Massively,' he told him. 'I was thinking before you came down here that as much as this is a physically a home of bricks and mortar, this is the start of someone to take a new journey in life, I just think it's wonderful what's been done. This is just a building of hope for people who need a roof and I think it's fantastic.'
To end the visit, William met with some of the builders who have been working on the development before helping them with 'hedging' - laying stonework around a plant bed where hedges will grow on the site.
His visit comes as it was revealed that William plans to sell off a fifth of the Duchy of Cornwall in the next ten years, to invest £500 million in tackling the housing and nature crises. He will consolidate his holdings around five geographic 'heartlands', focusing on Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Dartmoor, the Bath area and Kennington, south London, where he feels he can make the biggest social and environmental impact. Tomorrow, William will visit the Isles of Scilly to visit more community and housing projects on his Duchy estate and open a new hospital.
