Rain causes change of plans for Will & Kate during their Cornwall and Isles of Scilly tour

The second day of the tour was heavily flora-focused.

The Eden Project is not only a popular eco-tourist attraction in Cornwall but an enterprise and a charity. Inside the two biomes (large, domed greenhouse-like structures) are plants that are collected from many diverse climates and habitats. The largest of the two simulates the rainforest and the second, a Mediterranean environment.

The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames, and these are iconic images of Cornwall. The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general.

William and Kate met one of the baby dinosaurs from the ‘Dinosaur Uprising’ program in the rainforest dome, giving the Duchess the giggles. It is the world’s biggest undercover rainforest. It was then onto the Mediterranean Biome.

Fortunately the weather cleared up enough that the Royal couple could visit two of the three Scilly Isles as planned. Below you see them at the renowned Tresco Abbey Gardens in the sunshine, and talking to local residents of Tresco.

The gardens were established by the 19th century as a private recreational space, but the unique climate able to ‘shrug off salt spray and Atlantic gales’ means it is home to over 20,000 species of plants from 80 countries across the world.

William and Catherine, both 34, then took a walk on St Martin’s island to take in the scenery, as the weather had changed for the better. The pair needed their sunglasses!

There was a quick stop at the Community Hall, where the Duke and Duchess met with a local florist. They were presented with a painting from locals to mark their visit.

Due to timing, they could not make it to St Mary’s as planned.