Duke of Cambridge reveals his wife is trying to get him into gardening

The Duchess of Cambridge is trying to get her husband into gardening so he has a hobby to enjoy with his father, it emerged on Thursday.

The Duke revealed during an engagement in Rhyl, North Wales, that his wife “does all the gardening” but that he was trying to learn the ropes so he has something to share with the Prince of Wales.

The Duke, 38, was chatting to Brian Penney, 52, who is a coordinator for Men’s Sheds - a community project that encourages isolated men to build things and grow vegetables together.

He told him: “My wife does all the gardening. I really like it but I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Mr Penney said afterwards: “He told me Kate is getting him into gardening. She’s going to get him Monty Don’s book.

“He said she wants to get him into it because Charles is into it, so it’s something for them to enjoy together. He was so down to earth, such a nice man.”

The Duke was visiting Brighter Futures, an initiative launched in 2018 that involves eight local groups working together to support children, young people and older generations to participate in the community.

It includes the Men’s Sheds project which has 70 outlets across Wales that look out for isolated and vulnerable men and encourage them to work on building projects together.

The Duke told regional development officer Simon Poole: “With the rural areas these are really important. That might be the only contact these men get.

“They are more needed now than ever before. Mental health issues are going to grow more and more, there’s already a big backlog.

“What worries me is how do you find the guys we don’t know about? How do we get them out?”

The Duke said he had not been back to Anglesey, some 40 miles away, for some time.

“When I’m this close I feel I need to pop in and see how everyone is doing,” he said.

The Duke and the Duchess, 39, lived on Anglesey from 2010 to 2013 while he was serving as an RAF helicopter pilot at RAF Valley.