Princess of Wales wins latest sporting battle against Prince William in spin race
The Prince and Princess of Wales raced each other on spinning bikes during an exercise class in south Wales on Tuesday.
The Royal couple competed for 45 seconds in the Tour de Aberavon spinning challenge in the Aberavon Leisure and Fitness Centre in Port Talbot.
Kate, 41, managed to beat her husband in the race while wearing a skirt and high heels, receiving loud applause from the other people in the class and a small trophy to mark the success.
They visited the fitness centre to learn about the important role local leisure centres play in supporting communities' health and wellbeing.
Aberavon, which is one of Wales’s most deprived communities, lost its previous leisure centre in a fire in 2009, but it was replaced with a new building with state-of-the-art facilities.
During their visit, the Prince and Princess met the centre’s staff and users to hear about how the leisure centre and pool are making a difference to the local community.
The couple have a fierce sporting rivalry, battling it out in varied competitions over the years from dragon boat races to ice hockey.
“William and Kate have a natural competitiveness and it never takes much to bring it out,” a former palace aide told The Telegraph previously.
The source added that Kate is a “natural athlete” and her husband does not need any encouragement to go head-to-head, saying: “It's all genuine and never contrived.”
On Tuesday, Prince William admitted he was getting “non-stop grief” from Kate over England beating Wales in the rugby over the weekend.
The couple were both at the game in Cardiff on Saturday supporting the rival teams, as William is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, and Kate holds the same position for England’s Rugby Football Union.
Meanwhile, the Prince became a royal patron of the Wales Air Ambulance charity on Tuesday on the eve of St David’s Day.
The patronage was announced ahead of a visit later this afternoon to the headquarters of the charity alongside the Princess. It is the first Welsh patronage for the Prince since receiving the title of Prince of Wales.
William is closely linked to the air ambulance community from his time as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Valley, and he is also Patron of the London Air Ambulance.
The couple also visited a rehabilitation centre in Pontyclun, near Cardiff, on Tuesday morning to speak to staff and patients about the effects of drug and alcohol addiction.
Brynawel Rehabilitation Centre was William and Kate's first stop of the day during their trip to Wales to help champion mental health initiatives and meet local communities.
