William and Kate carried out a series of engagements across counties Tyrone and Armagh.
They visited a dairy farm and enjoyed freshly-squeezed juice from Armagh’s famed apples, while also touring the NI Fire & Rescue Service’s new Learning and Development College near Cookstown.
It is their first joint visit to the region since October 2022.
At the fire training college, William and Kate saw some of the training given to the next generation.
William and Kate board a fire engine at the centre near Cookstown. Chris Jackson/PA Wire
The couple were taken a short distance across the 50-acre site in the red engine, but travelled at a sedate pace.
Newly qualified firefighters Caoimhe McNeice, 25, and Piarais McCaffery, 32, joined the royal guests for part of the visit, and described their experiences at the centre of excellence.
Ms McNeice said about the driver: “He got us there safely, I think he was on a limit for his speed.
“The princess was wanting the sirens on, but he was strictly told no.
“It was just a bit of banter, she said ‘I’d love to drive at the real speed and have the sirens on’.”
Kate also wanted her husband to take the wheel, Ms McNeice said. “She was wanting the prince to drive, but the driver got us there anyway.”
William and Kate appeared impressed by the facilities at the college, officially opened in May, which can replicate a range of dangerous scenarios in the safety of a learning environment with instructors at hand.
The royal couple speak with firefighters near Cookstown, Co Tyrone. Chris Jackson/PA Wire
Mr McCaffery said the princess had told him the college meant “we’re ahead of the game” and that whenever they were called out to an incident, they would know what to do.
At the huge water facility that created rapids around the shell of a building, the couple watched staff patiently recover a mock casualty, then tried throwing lines to volunteers who jumped in the fast-moving water to re-create someone being swept away.
The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Mallon Linen near Cookstown in Co Tyrone, a working family farm that is re-establishing a transparent flax-to-linen supply chain in Northern Ireland. Photo: Samir Hussein/PA Wire
William went first but his line just missed, as did one thrown by his wife a few minutes later, but instructor Pete Sloane said: “The water was moving at 24 knots, very fast, and they were both very close.
“It’s difficult to hit a moving target but another go and they would have had it.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales make a potato and apple cake during a visit to Long Meadow Cider in Portadown, Co Armagh, a family-owned apple farm which has evolved from traditional apple growers into producers of award-winning craft ciders, juices, and vinegars. Chris Jackson/PA Wire
In the afternoon, William and Kate visited Mallon Farm in Co Tyrone, which was a dairy farm for generations before becoming a flax farm in 2020.
Helen Keys MBE and Charlie Mallon of Mallon Farm showed them flax fields and a machine from the 1940s being used to process flax to make linen, and about their efforts to promote a sustainable flax and linen industry.
Kate tried an old mechanical technique of breaking bunches of flax to soften it, before being shown a large restored 1940s machine, which she said was like a hairbrush.
Full-time carer Tiernan Stuart said he was inspired by Henry VII banning Irish gentry from wearing more than 22 yards of linen to make a mini spinning machine in his spare time.
Showing them the mini machine, he said he would like to see children encouraged to try and make something similar.
“It sounds like you should be launching a design challenge,” William told him.
“Amazing designers would be able to come through and produce something.”
William speaks to fire service staff during the visit. Chris Jackson/PA Wire
Later, Catherine McKeever welcomed the couple to their family farm in Co Armagh, describing it as “unbelievable, surreal, something I never imagined would happen here”.
As they joined Mrs McKeever and her husband Pat at Long Meadow Farm outside Portadown, they sampled the apple cider vinegar produced on site.
The McKeever family have been running the farm in Northern Ireland’s Orchard County since 1968. Mr and Mrs McKeever’s children are now the third generation to work in the business.
They have diversified at Long Meadow, which now produces craft ciders, apple juice and apple cider vinegars and welcomes tourists for tours and tastings.
William and Kate viewed the production facilities and drank apple juice pressed just seconds earlier.
Mr and Mrs McKeever’s son Peter said: “The juice was freshly pressed, no added water, no added sugar. They got it in its raw, pure state and they absolutely loved it.”
He said he had discussed cider with the couple, adding: “William didn’t say what he liked as a favourite, but he said he likes a dry cider.”
An apple-picking excursion followed, with the royal couple helping to gather some of the Bramleys.
Pat McKeever said they were very interested in the different varieties and discussed the apple trees they have at home.
The final stop was for a royal bake-off, when William and Kate tried their hands at making the McKeevers’ favourite potato apple bread.
Asked what it was like to teach the future king and queen the recipe, which has been handed down through her family, Mrs McKeever said it was “just absolutely unbelievable.
“It was just as if they were an ordinary couple coming in to see how to make bread.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Learning and Development College near Cookstown. Chris Jackson/PA Wire
Before leaving, the prince and princess met privately with officers from the PSNI.
Whenever the couple visit, it is understood they try to spend time with representatives from the PSNI to thank them for their service and to hear about their experiences.
Their last major joint public event was a visit to Southport to show their ongoing support for the community following the fatal knife attack in July 2024.
On their last visit here, William and Kate stopped off in Belfast three years ago and took part in a cocktail making race at a market and travelled to Carrickfergus.