'It’s my wife who’s the arty one,' says William while decorating biscuits at youth centre
The Prince of Wales has voiced concerns about society’s use of mobile phones as he toured a youth club.
On Thursday, William visited West, a new £12 million centre providing a wealth of facilities for 8-18-year-olds, and quizzed children about their phone habits.
The future king also played pool with the youngsters, shot basketball hoops and remembered Kate when he joined children decorating biscuits, telling them: “It’s my wife who’s the arty one.”
Kate, who has not been seen in public since Christmas Day, recently apologised over a photoshopped image released of her and the children on Mother's Day.
Sitting down with a group working on a mental health project, he asked: “How much time do you spend on your phone a day?” adding with a laugh, “We can all be honest about this.”
When one teenage girl said 15 hours, he replied: “Fifteen hours, that’s quite a lot – I bet you feel better coming here.”
West, which stands for Where Everyone Sticks Together, was named by the youngsters who use the facility in Shepherd’s Bush, west London which officially opens in April.
William appeared keen to see all aspects of West which is the 15th facility established by OnSide, a national youth centre charity.
The future King brought up the issue of mobile phone use again after he washed his hands, put on an apron and spread icing on a biscuit before decorating it.
He said: “Grown-ups are guilty of it too… we got to be better on our phones too – we spend ages on our phones.”
In October, OnSide published its “Generation Isolation” report which found 76% of 5,000 11-18-year-olds, surveyed in partnership with YouGov, spent most of their free time on screens, with 51% spending most of their time in their bedrooms.
When asked to name his favourite biscuit, William got an appreciative “ohh” from the children when he mentioned a popular sweet treat.
He said: “That’s a hard one to say what my favourite is, I like quite a lot. Chocolate digestives … I like a KitKat as well – other things are available.”
The Prince is due at a ceremony on Thursday evening paying tribute to his late mother at the Diana Legacy Award.
The Duke of Sussex will also attend via video link, but after William has left.
This is the Royal Rota - our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.