During a visit to Birtley Community Pool, the Prince of Wales revealed that his eldest son, Prince George, is a passionate scuba diver. While reopening the community pool, Prince William, 42, spoke with Team GB Olympians, including Adam Peaty and Tom Dean.
In his discussion with the elite swimmers, William expressed that both he and his sporty wife, Kate, 42, “adore” swimming, and shared a delightful story about their adventurous 11-year-old son.
“Catherine and I both adore swimming. George loves scuba diving,” he said. “When he was ten, we took him under, thinking he’d freak out, but he absolutely loved it. It’s just introduced him to the world of water…”
Elsewhere during the visit, father-of-three William revealed why he wasn’t present at the Olympics in Paris to cheer on Team GB this August, and instead chose to support the team from home.
Tom asked William: ‘Did you manage to get out there [to Paris]?’
William replied: ‘No I was so keen to come but I have to say after reading someone’s interview about Covid [looking at Adam Peaty – who tested positive during the games] I decided, because my wife was obviously having chemo, that I didn’t want to risk bringing Covid home, so Adam very kindly reminded me that that was still a thing!
‘But we watched the whole thing. We were glued to it every day.’
During his visit to Birtley Community Pool, Prince William met with Paralympians Maisie Summers-Newton and Louise Fiddes, who showcased their medals. They discussed the concerning trend of community pools closing down, with William emphasizing the importance of swimming in an island nation like the UK.
“We’ve heard stories up and down the country of pools closing down, so we thought: ‘No, we want to be able to stop this.’ We want to replicate this [Birtley’s pool reopening] across the country because swimming is such an important part of life,” he stated.
William also chatted with Tom Dean about his recent departure from Strictly Come Dancing, with Tom recalling that the prince described it as a “robbery.” Tom added that William mentioned his wife, Catherine, is a “big fan” of the show.
In an exciting announcement, the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales revealed a partnership with Birtley Community Pool to provide swimming lessons and lifeguard training. According to a report from Swim England, nearly one in three children in the UK leave primary education unable to swim.
The Royal Foundation plans to fund Birtley’s pool and collaborate with Tom’s company, Swim School, to provide 1,000 “learn to swim” packages to children across the UK next year. Tom, a three-time Olympic swimming champion, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “Projects like this are brilliant, and working with the Royal Foundation is a true honor.”
As William greeted royal fans, he showed little sign of fatigue from his night cheering for his beloved Aston Villa, who won 1-0 against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. When reminded of the victory, he playfully admitted, “I lost my voice because I was shouting a bit too much last night.”
Prince William was all smiles as he chatted with Olympic champion Adam Peaty, who recently proposed to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly. “Good morning everyone, so nice to see you!” the royal exclaimed while joining local residents to celebrate the reopening of the pool, marking a successful fundraising effort that raised £20,000.
During the event, Prince William emphasized the importance of swimming as a vital life s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁, noting that nearly one in three children in the UK leave primary education unable to swim. He engaged with children at a local primary school who were taking their first swimming lessons, and observed a lifeguard training session, further highlighting the initiative’s focus on community safety.
William’s upbeat demeanor was evident as he interacted with royal fans and schoolchildren alike. He also announced a new partnership through The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, which will provide swimming lessons and lifeguard training to local residents. This initiative aims to empower young people with essential s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s to potentially save lives.
During his visit, William spoke with Jonathan Carlisle, founder of Swim City, who credited the reopening of the pool to the prince’s involvement. Carlisle shared, “First of all, we spoke about Aston Villa last night! And then a reform of Swim England and what we think can improve.”
When asked about the significance of Prince William’s visit, Jonathan Carlisle gestured to the enthusiastic crowds and remarked, “Just look. It’s been open two weeks, and look how many people turned up today just to see him. It adds that cherry on the cake… but also, what he’s done before this with the foundation and helping the pool reopen. The pool wouldn’t be back open without him.”
Birtley Community Pool aims to welcome 16,000 visitors each month, including 6,500 children. Formerly known as Birtley Swim Centre, the facility officially reopened on September 16, just over a year after it was closed by the council due to funding issues.
Following its closure, dedicated volunteers established the Birtley Community Aquatic Centre, working tirelessly to reopen the venue as a non-profit operation. The community united to crowdfund the necessary funds, expressing their delight at reaching their target for the pool’s reopening.
‘As a community, we were quite distraught at its closure. We really came together as a set of volunteers to support each other,’ said Yvonne Probert, chair of trustees at Birtley Community Pool in a video posted to social media by Kensington Palace.
She continued: ‘One of the things that’s been really important to us is all the support we’ve had locally.’
Gateshead Council approved a 50-year operating lease to BCAC and they were given the keys to the baths at the end of May 2024.
Volunteers even managed to secure a refurbishment with the help of local businesses and tradespeople.
And over the last new months, volunteers of the BCAC have seen help from the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who have worked closely with the community to connect them with partners and help them in achieving their goal.
The community also secured funding from Sport England and the Community Ownership Fund.
Through the Royal Foundation’s Community Impact Programme, Kate and William’s charity have also helped out with funding, offered bursaries for local children’s swimming lessons, as well as helping recruit a a Community Outreach Officer to encourage more children to swim.
The visit demonstrated William’s clear passion for encouraging people to learn to swim
It comes after William enjoyed in an evening of football yesterday, after spending the match cheering his beloved Aston Villa to victory against Bayern Munich.
The Prince of Wales even confessed his lost his voice cheering on his team at the Champions League game on Wednesday.
The prince is a lifelong fan of the Birmingham-based Premier League team took geat pleasure in being part of the crowd for its first home game in European football’s elite competition for 41 years.
From appearing tense to putting his arms up in the air as he cheered, William, dressed in a navy jacket and sporting his fan-favourite beard, had been through all the emotions as he watched his team at Villa Park stadium in the UK’s second city.
Television footage showed a jubilant William cheering and hugging those next to him at full time, as his team beat German giants Bayern 1-0 in a repeat of their 1982 European Cup final win.
The prince – known to be a huge football fan – also made fists in victory, as well as giving a delighted thumbs up to another member of the crowd. After the game, William said: ‘I’ve lost my voice. I can’t quite believe it. 42 years.’
His outing comes after the Prince and Princess of Wales, in a rare appearance, met an aspiring photographer with an aggressive form of cancer after inviting the teenager to take pictures at investitures at Windsor Castle.
The royal, who is patron of the English Football Association, met members of Villa’s 1982 European Cup – as it was formerly known – winning team before watching the much-anticipated match.
Television footage showed William clapping and cheering at Villa Park as home fans thought they took the lead through Pau Torres but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Before the Champions League match, William met Villa’s 1982 European Cup-winning squad, who beat Bayern 1-0 in the final.
A post on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s X social media account read: ’42 years on, our 1982 European Cup winning legends are here on an historic night for @AVFCOfficial.
‘Ready for the first game on home turf in this year’s European adventure… £UTV (Up the Villa).’
