Prince William is used to receiving a warm welcome from royal fans, but one well-wisher offered him a rather unusual greeting today. The heir to the throne participated in an impromptu walkabout during his brief trip to east Belfast on Tuesday morning and one man appeared to overstep the mark. The royal fan stood behind a metal barrier and held out his hand to the royal, prompting William to respond by clasping his hand and moving closer to chat with him. But the handshake didn’t appear to be enough for the fan, as he made a number of enthusiastic hand gestures.
The fan appeared to jokingly punch William’s face and also attempted to pat him on the cheek – though both were likely meant in a playful greeting.
William looked completely unphased by the interaction, with images documenting the encounter showing the royal smiling and chatting to the man.
Other fans surrounding the pair could be seen smiling and laughing at the exchange.
Elsewhere on the impromptu walkabout, William hugged a woman clutching a union flag.
The large turnout was unexpected as William’s visit to Newtownards Road in east Belfast had not been publicised. But shortly after his arrival at the Skainos community centre, the word spread and people left their homes to catch a glimpse of the senior royal.
As he left the centre, the Prince crossed the road for an impromptu walkabout to greet the swelling crowds.
There were shouts of “good morning sir” and “welcome to the east” as well as the waving of union flags, with pensioners, babies and dogs among the crowds.
William joked: “I’ll get into big trouble” after hugging Debbie Johnston, 57, before pressing on to shake the rest of the offered hands, adding: “Have a nice day, guys,” as he got into his vehicle to travel to the next stage of his tour in Scotland.
Ms Johnston revealed that locals had spotted police cones and cordons being set up on the Newtownards Road on Monday night, sparking intense speculation around who would be coming.
William was officially welcomed to the Northern Ireland capital by Lord Lieutanant Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle as well as Belfast Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy and East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson.
The visit came as part of his UK tour to launch Homewards, a five-year locally-led programme, delivered by The Royal Foundation.
In Belfast William met initial members of the coalition being built through Homewards, and heard from representatives from the East Belfast Mission about their work to tackle homelessness and about their new housing development 240.
The royal then moved on to Aberdeen, where he arrived this afternoon to unveil the fifth location in his project.
