Prince of Wales celebrates St David’s Day with schoolchildren

The Prince of Wales has joined primary school children to celebrate St David’s Day.

Pupils at Ysgol yr Holl Saint, or All Saints School, in Gresford, Wrexham, North Wales, performed folk songs and dances for William when he visited on Friday, the feast day for the Welsh patron saint.

William wore the national flower, a daffodil, pinned to his suit for the visit and many of the children donned traditional costumes to mark the day.

He commented on the outfit of four-year-old Esme Dale, who wore a collar-sized daffodil around her neck, telling her: “I like your daffodil, that’s amazing.”

The prince donned an apron to have a go at stirring a mix for bara brith – a Welsh tea bread – and was presented with a loaf to take home.

As he left, after posing for a group photo with the school, students gave him three Welsh dragon toys to pass on to his children George, Charlotte and Louis.

He said: “The children will like these when I come home with these guys.”

Accepting a bouquet of flowers, he added: “I’ll pass those on to Catherine.”

The princess is recovering from an abdominal operation.

James Douglas, 11, who gave two of the toy dragons to the prince, said: “It was very good because we knew that he was the Prince of Wales and we knew it was St David’s Day so it was kind of a coincidence that he came today and it was really, really fun.”

Mason Trueman, also 11, said the visit was “really special”.

He added: “He was really nice and kind and it was really nice to meet him.”

While at the school, William heard from pupils who had made it through to the UK finals of the Formula 1 in Schools competition.

Speaking to 11-year-olds Layla Conlin and Harlow Taylor about the car they had designed for the contest, he said: “It is very important we get more girls into engineering. Crucial. This is a great way to do it.”

He also met pupils who had been working on projects linked to the Gresford mining disaster in 1934, when an explosion and fire at the village’s colliery killed 266 men.

After hearing from the children, William said: “That was a very good run-through of what happened and a very good history lesson for me, as well.”