On the sixth day of their Royal tour of Canada, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a children’s tea party at Government House for military families. Prince George and Princess Charlotte stole the spotlight, loving the balloons, bubbles and animals in the garden – and gave us some wonderful chances to see the Cambridges interacting as a family, as well as adorable photos!
Prince George and Princess Charlotte played with bubbles and balloons during a party staged in their honour. pic.twitter.com/Z4ePceojs2
— Press Association (@PA) September 29, 2016
Children from the Military Family Resource Centre, a non-profit organisation which provides services to military members and their families, also attended the event and got to mingle with the Royals and their children. The tea party was the only scheduled event of the day, which allowed the Cambridges to spend some private family time in the afternoon, after a busy tour so far.
CATCH UP WITH ALL OF #ROYALVISITCANADA SO FAR
During the event, William and Kate met current members of the Canadian military, but were kept busy running around after their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. This was the first official joint engagement of George and Charlotte, and their presence made the event extra special.
Upon the Royal arrival, Princess Charlotte made a bee-line for the balloon arch that decorated the garden, where she had great fun attempting to pop the balloons.
The 16-month-old Princess was heard speaking for the first time, shouting “pop” as she enthusiastically hit the bunch of balloons. Charlotte was also heard calling for her “Dada”, still enthralled by the multicoloured balloons.
Hear her speak in the video below:
Charlotte far more into the balloons than anything else #RoyalVisitCanada pic.twitter.com/78xhGKRSjq
— Victoria Murphy (@QueenVicMirror) September 29, 2016
Meanwhile, Prince George enjoyed squirting a bubble gun at his father. Prince William entertained his son and other children by blowing bubbles. George seemed as equally impressed by the bubbles as his sister did with the balloons.
After this, George was seen sitting on a miniature pony, which was part of the petting zoo at the party. This is something that would make ‘Gan-Gan’ [The Queen] very proud. Prince George was asked if Charlotte has a miniature pony to sit on at home: “Not yet” was his answer.
He then shouted “balloons!” while running over to his sister: George had spotted Charlotte being made a balloon animal and asked “Can I have one?”
The children’s entertainer, Paul Kilshaw said that he made a teddy bear and a flower for Charlotte and a spider and volcano for George. The future King happily exclaimed, “That is Lava,” referring to the orange part of the balloon.
Charlotte made a new friend in Moose the dog during the party, as she attempted to sit and bounce on top of the therapy dog.
The Princess was also seen petting and cuddling a rabbit. Finally, before Charlotte returned to the balloons she danced with her mother while shaking a musical instrument to the music.
Seemingly an affectionate child, Prince George, now 2, was seen giving his father a hug.
William and Catherine are dedicated to giving their children as private a life as possible in their early years, before the day comes when their lives will become completely public. Therefore events such as this are rare, and the people of Victoria who were lucky enough to attend the event, enjoyed every minute. The Royals continued at the tea party after the media left. Canada’s Globe and Mail, described the two Royal siblings as the “life of the tea party!”
Six national newspapers featured the event on the front page today, showing just how popular the Royal children are.
Prince George & Princess Charlotte make the front pages of 6 morning newspapers. #RoyalVisitCanada #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/f6iph4hPQd
— Royal Art Museum (@RoyalArtMuseum) September 29, 2016