Princess Kate was about to drive away during a visit to a knitwear factory in Carmarthenshire when three-year-old Lily-Rose piped up, causing Kate to halt the royal convoy and come over to say hello

The mother has described the “surreal” moment that the Princess of Wales stopped her car and got out to talk to her daughter.

Princess Kate was out and about on a royal visit in Carmarthenshire when three-year-old Lily-Rose piped up, shouting “hello princess” in a bid to attract the royal’s attention.

The princess waved back at the tot before jogging over to say hello and Lily-Rose, bizarrely, handed her a banana. “I heard you say ‘hello’ from all the way back there and I wanted to come and see you,” Kate told the toddler as she shook her hand, adding: “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Princess Kate stopped to talk after the three-year-old shouted to her ( 
Image:
PA)
The Princess, who had been visiting a knitwear factory in Ammanford in her first visit to Wales since she was diagnosed with cancer in March, left the family stunned. “I wanted to say hi to you!,” bold Lily-Rose told Kate, before asking if she was really a Princess. “Yes I am!,” the royal answered. “I wanted to come and say hello.”

The family said they thought they had missed their chance to meet Princess Kate but Lily-Rose’s cheerful cry of “hello princess” called her back. Kate then tried to hand the banana back to Lily-Rose who promptly threw it on the ground – and the Princess of Wales had to bend down to retrieve it.

Lily-Rose’s mum Stacey Chorley, 39, said: “It was so exciting, we had no idea that was going to happen. I hope this is one of the things Lily-Rose will remember. Kate was so lovely, she’s very natural and down to earth.”

‘I hope this is one of the things Lily-Rose will remember,’ the mum said ( 
Image:
PA)

She told GB News. “It was quite surreal to be honest. We had no idea it was going to happen. When she got in the car she waved and we thought that was it but when she stopped the car we all said oh my god she’s getting out.

“We had a feeling she was coming out to meet Lily because she was the only child there. She came running over in her high heels and it was a wow moment. It was so cute.” The mum said her daughter was “not shy at all” and described the toddler as “outgoing”. She said Princess Kate had been “absolutely lovely” during their brief interaction.

The unannounced trip to Wales was Princess Kate’s second this week and comes as she continues to make a phased return to royal duties after completing a bout of chemotherapy last summer. It follows the princess confirming she is in remission from cancer.