Prince William gifted Princess Charlotte's favourite accessory on overseas visit

Ahead of his arrival at the Presidential Palace, the Prince posted on social media: "Tere, Tallinn - great to be visiting Estonia for the first time! Looking forward to an exciting two days here, both in beautiful Tallinn and visitng British troops at Tapa camp tomorrow."

Estonians have an affinity with UK music and culture, with many in their 40s and 50s growing up with British TV, and school children are taught about the Royal Navy’s support for the Baltic state's successful fight for independence immediately after the First World War.

William was greeted by a group of young children from Tallinn Lotte Kindergarten.

The youngsters gifted the Prince with a cuddly dog called Lotte, which is also the name of one of Estonia's most famous children's stories, and a card to give to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

After speaking with schoolchildren, William who was dressed smartly in a blue suit, in a possible nod to Estonia's flag, made his way up the steps to meet the president. 

President Karis told the Prince he hoped that UK troops would stay in Estonia, amid reports they might instead be sent to form part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

"With British troops at Tapa we really, we really appreciate it," he said.

The two men sat at a table laid for tea and cakes in the Blue Cabinet Room after the President showed William his garden and led him upstairs to sign a visitors' book, joking that he "hoped the pen worked."

"Hopefully," laughed the Prince.  

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said it is an "important meeting for the Prince to highlight the strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Estonia".

They added: "The meeting also allows His Royal Highness the opportunity to applaud Estonia's strong support for Ukraine since the conflict with Russia.

"It is also yet another example of the Prince of Wales representing the United Kingdom at the highest level on the global stage."

The meeting was "warm” and lasted for around 35 minutes and the Prince thanked the President for his hospitality and the opportunity to visit Estonia.

They discussed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Estonia's support, as well as the strength of the UK's relationship with Estonia.

Britain and Estonia have fought together during the Afghanistan conflict, share similar goals in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion and are Nato allies, with the UK's largest permanent overseas deployment of around 900 service personnel based in Estonia.  

The moment William was given a blue and yellow friendship bracelet at The Freedom School. 

His Charlotte has been pictured wearing friendship bracelets to events such as Wimbledon last year, and even made a personalised one for her father, with the words "Papa" for his visit to Cape Town last November.

He visited school to hear more about Estonia's support for Ukraine and meet some of the 60,000 refugees who have made the Baltic country their home since the conflict began.

He told students and teachers in a Ukrainian language school: "It's been a very difficult few years for you guys. Everyone sees that. What I love is [that] the Ukrainian resilience is everywhere.

"You all are very smiley and very strong and very spiritual people. And honestly that comes across everywhere. Even the Ukrainians I've met in the UK are like that - very resilient and very strong about things.

"You have a very good spirit, very good souls, it's very important. Even if your language is very hard to learn. I need to take some of these big words with me to look at, learn my languages better."

William also took part in basketball training drills in the sports hall, but didn’t manage to score a basket.

Prince William posed for dozens of selfies and shook hands with hundreds of Estonians who waited to see him in Telliskivi, a creative hub in Tallinn.

The future King braved the 4 degrees Celsius temperature in a down jacket from Canadian brand Lululemon, perhaps in a subtle show of support for Canada amid ongoing tensions between the Realm country and the United States.

William accepted gifts and cards for his family and stopped to pat a white terrier.

"She's a Scottish dog, your royal subject," said her owner.

"I can tell she’s very well looked after," he replied. 

"A very soft coat. You've had a little haircut, haven’t you? You want to look your best" he said to the terrier as he continued to stroke her.

He recognised another face from earlier in the walkabout, saying: “I’ve seen you already, you’ve come around! I remember faces you see, I know.”

One man told him: "All the best to your father.”
After taking a selfie with him, the Prince joked as he looked towards his waiting car: "I think I can see the end of the line down there somewhere."

At one point he stopped to check the person who had handed him the phone was in the picture. "I don't want to take pictures with someone else’s camera and put the wrong person in it."

The Prince was handed flowers, soft toys and even a basket of fresh fruit and vegetables from the flag-waving crowd.

Epp, who didn't want to give her last name, was overjoyed to have met William and said, "It's a historic day for me. I took the hand of the British prince, and I will never forget it."

Jevgenia Hammerberg, 39, from Tallinn had brought her young daughter to see the Prince and gave him a doll of the classic Estonian children's book character Sipsik, which the prince said looked similar to cartoon creation Dennis the Menace.

She said: "I'm quite a fan of the royal family, I like the traditions and history not just the dresses of Kate Middleton.

"I think it was an amazing opportunity to meet somebody from the royal family in Estonia - it was really cool".

William greeted wellwishers after visiting the Cleantech Association, where he met the leader of four renewable energy startups and viewed products including solar panels and a hydrogen drone, which is cleaner and can travel longer distances than a battery-operated one.

"Seeing all the fantastic innovations reminds me of some of the stuff we’re trying to do in the Earthshot Prize, which is trying to tackle some of the world’s greatest environmental challenges," he told his hosts.

"My message is keep doing more of the same, there is clearly a lot of innovation and a lot of excitement and good brains here trying to tackle these problems."