It's not often we see the Duchess of Cambridge out of her towering heels. But on Thursday she traded her fashionable footwear for trainers during a game of hockey. Sporty Kate, who was the captain of her school hockey team and has the scars to prove it, took part in a training session at the Olympic hockey arena with Team GB athletes.
She also wore Team GB's official training top for the 90-minute visit promoting the Games in her role as an Olympic Ambassador.
But she kept on her coral 'jeggings', joking that they clashed with the blue Astroturf.
Kate said she was "excited" to get the chance to play with Team GB. But when the time came to wield the stick with the other players, she confessed to feeling "really nervous". On seeing the assembled crowd of players, journalists and officials, the Duchess exclaimed: "Oh please don't tell me I have to do it in front of all these people!
"I don't want anyone to watch! "The last time I played was 2005, maybe. It feels like I haven't held a stick for ten years. "This is going to be so embarrassing. My brain thinks I can do all these wonderful things but my body just doesn't play ball. The sporty royal needn't have worried, however. She impressed with her ball control and even scored a goal. Team Captian Kate Walsh said afterwards: "Actually, she was really good… It takes a bit of getting used to after such a long time away from the game."
Later, on Twitter, the player expressed her excitment at meeting William's wife, adding: "Think our team have got Royal approval!"Upon her departure, Kate thanked the players, adding: "It has been a great experience. Nerve-wracking but great. I really miss playing. "Later on in the evening, it will be business as usual when the Duchess joins forces with her father-in-law, Prince Charles during a visit to Dulwich Art Gallery in south London.
