The Prince and Princess of Wales have been joined by their three children as they attended the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
William and Kate \u2013 who are known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay while in Scotland \u2013 were accompanied by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George during the netball semi-final match at the Hydro arena.<\/p>\n
They moved onto the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome where they met Sir Chris himself and took in some of the track cycling action, before heading to the Team Wales base in the city centre.<\/p>\n
The royals visited on the penultimate day of the Commonwealth Games, which will have its closing ceremony on Sunday. <\/p>\n
William, Kate and their three children were at the netball semi-finals Credit: Jane Barlow\/PA<\/p>\n
After the netball event, the royals emerged from the arena between lines of volunteers for the Games.<\/p>\n
They met gold medal-winning para powerlifter Mark Swan and gymnast Reuben Ward on the concourse outside the venue.<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Games mascot Finnie also high-fived George, Charlotte and Louis and fist-bumped Kate.<\/p>\n
The family were then cheered by the waiting crowds as they made their way to their waiting cars.<\/p>\n
Ward, who won a gold medal while competing for Scotland, told Press Association: \u201cComing into the Games, I was just hoping for the best and hopefully I could get some medals.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in a position where I\u2019m being chosen to meet the Prince of Wales, it\u2019s just a strange but incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swan picked up a gold medal in the men\u2019s para powerlifting competition.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the Games said: \u201cAbsolutely fantastic opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust everything, from gold medals to then meeting royalty \u2013 blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterwards, they moved onto the Team Wales base in the city centre, where they met a number of Wales athletes.<\/p>\n
Among those they spoke to were identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper, who made Commonwealth Games history by winning bronze medals within hours of each other.<\/p>\n
During their discussion, the conversation turned to Louis\u2019 own sporting endeavours.<\/p>\n
Kate turned to her youngest son and said: \u201cLouis, you\u2019re perfecting your handstands on carpets, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
He replied ruefully: \u201cCharlotte says it isn\u2019t very good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Louis was then invited to update the board displaying Wales\u2019 medal count to reflect two recent golds, and he duly stuck a large \u201c7\u201d sticker over the \u201c5\u201d to loud applause.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the press afterwards, Abigail said: \u201cIt was quite a surreal experience meeting their Highnesses, but we\u2019re so happy and they\u2019re so lovely\u201d.<\/p>\n
Emily echoed this, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. We didn\u2019t know that we were doing this until a few days ago, so to actually be here with them in real life is just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family also fitted in a visit to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in the east end of the city, where they met the six-time Olympic champion himself and watched some of the action on the cycling track.<\/p>\n
In recent days, the sporting event \u2013 affectionately known as the \u201cfriendly games\u201d \u2013 has been attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, vice patron of Commonwealth Sport, which delivers the games, and his wife.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the King and Queen emerged from a Tardis at the Hydro arena during the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n
The light-hearted moment was reminiscent of London 2012 when Queen Elizabeth II appeared to skydive into the Olympic Stadium alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig. <\/p>\n
Prince George and Prince Louis with the Duke of Edinburgh at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
The opening ceremony in Glasgow was the first to be held indoors as part of a radical restructuring of the games\u2019 finances after Australian state Victoria withdrew as host of the event in 2023, citing spiralling costs.<\/p>\n
The future of the event, which originated as the British Empire Games in 1930, was in doubt until Glasgow was convinced to step in and reprise its hosting role from 2014, albeit with significant alterations.<\/p>\n
William and Kate will also spend time with athletes competing at the games whose careers have been empowered by the charity SportsAid, which Kate has supported as patron since 2013, and meet emerging talent taking part in the Team England Futures project.<\/p>\n
Sporting stars whose early promise was boosted by SportsAid include Sir Chris Hoy, Ellie Simmonds, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Tom Daley.<\/p>\n
Team England Futures has given talented young athletes and aspiring support staff the opportunity to attend the Glasgow games to gain behind-the-scenes experience in preparation for potential medal-winning performances as Team England, Team GB or ParalympicsGB debutants.<\/p>\n