William and Kate visited Scotland’s Isle of Bute while the King discussed AI with leading companies.
The royal family were out in force as a series of allegations were made against the King in a tribute book to Diana, Princess of Wales by her brother.
William and Kate met dozens of residents on Scotland’s Isle of Bute, posed for selfies and even played shinty as they celebrated the island’s community spirit and volunteering ethos while the King presided over a gathering of the world’s leading AI companies and warned of the “existential dangers” of the new technology falling into the wrong hands.
A typical working day for the royals was overshadowed by the latest claims from Earl Spencer’s memoir of his sister Diana, that claimed the King sounded “giddily elated… like a lottery winner” when he rang the earl following the princess’ death.
In other passages of the book the earl described how his sister drove “more than once” to the cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex and was “contemplating ending it all”, adding that “her love for her sons stopped her from going further”.
The excerpt went on to claim Diana told her brother “my husband is in love with his valet” after telling him she was going to get divorced.
The palace has yet to respond to the latest claims serialised by the Daily Mail, but a spokesman said on Wednesday “fraternal grief can cloud reason”.
William and Kate’s visit to Bute followed their trip to the islands of Iona and Mull in the Inner Hebrides last year and they embraced the island’s love of shinty.
They met players past and present at the Bute Shinty Club, a social hub as well as a sports facility, and when Kate held a curved shinty stick, known as a caman, and the game’s small leather ball, she declared: “I want to give it a go.”
After watching an under 17s match from the sidelines with many locals the couple tried playing the sport and quickly learned hand-eye co-ordination was key as they practiced taking penalties.
William fluffed his first shot with the ball moving just a few inches before making solid contact to cheers from the spectators.
Kate fared little better at the start, swinging and missing but her next shot was cheered as it flew at the goalkeeper and she peppered the goal with more shots, almost hitting press closest to the netting and apologised saying “sorry”.
The couple later joined a beach litter pick and William got inside the cab of a tractor used to help the clear-up with Kate by his side.
They ended their day at the community-owned Anchor Tavern Pub and Hub in Port Bannatyne and William praised their model, where a large number of volunteers help keep the project financially viable, and Kate described it as something “special”.
