Prince William has confirmed that Princess Charlotte is continuing with her favorite hobby, showcasing her dedication and interest in activities like dancing and horseback riding.
The Prince of Wales, 42, referenced his 9-year-old daughter’s hobbies while speaking to a student at Swiss Valley Community Primary School while visiting Llanelli, Wales on Sept. 10. Prince William traveled there to celebrate Welsh sport and culture and meet people from local communities, building upon his special relationship with the country as the Prince of Wales, the traditional title for the male heir to the throne since 1301.
At the school, Prince William brought up Princess Charlotte’s passion for performing in conversation with 10-year-old Ruby Davies. Ruby is a second-language Welsh speaker and won the individual reciting competition for Welsh learners at the Urdd Eisteddfod, a weeklong festival celebrating Welsh culture and language, earlier this year (and went viral for her candid interview after).
“Charlotte loves her dancing and performing as well, so I’m going to show her your video when I get home, see where I’ve been today,” Prince William told Ruby in video shared by the BBC.
Ruby also presented the royal with friendship bracelets for “the prince and princess,” perhaps referring to Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who have both sported the Taylor Swift-approved accessory this summer.
“Thank you so much, they’re going to love these. You’ll see them out and about,” said Prince William, who seemed touched. “I’ll keep them away from Louis because he’ll try and steal all his sister’s kits!” he joked about his youngest son.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton have both previously spoken about Princess Charlotte’s love of dance. The couple signed their daughter up for private ballet lessons when she was 3, and Princess Kate mentioned at an engagement in 2023 that Charlotte “loves ballet and tap.”
Confident Charlotte was spotted dancing beside her dad at Swift’s show at Wembley Stadium in June, and similarly showed off her moves last year at the Coronation Concert during Lionel Richie and Katy Perry’s performances.
Princess Charlotte may have inherited her love of dance from her late grandmother, Princess Diana. Diana studied ballet as a hobby, and took hundreds of secret ballet lessons with dance teacher Anne Allan from 1981 to 1989.
Allan has rarely spoken about her time with the late Princess of Wales, and reflects in the new book Dancing With Diana: A Memoir, published Sept. 10 and exclusively excerpted in PEOPLE, about the safe haven the lessons were for her.
“She loved to dance. The minute she started to move her arms, you could see the feeling that it brought her,” Allan tells PEOPLE. “She was able to be herself. She loved to move and loved to have fun.”
It also offered her an outlet to share her joys and sorrows.
“If something was on her mind, she would say so,” Allan recalls. “Later on there were days where she would come in and just talk a little bit.”
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