This is the adorable moment Prince William spotted a corgi as he met crowds in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on Thursday.
The Prince of Wales, 42, was speaking to locals in the capital of the northern European country and was spotted smiling and chatting animatedly with several royal fans before catching sight of the pooch.
William then made a bee-line to the dog and began petting it as he spoke to the owners.
The royal was clearly pleased to see the dog and grinned as he stroked its head before making a heartwarming comment.
William told those gathered that corgis were a favourite of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II who was famous for her love of the breed.
He said, smiling: ‘They were my grandma’s favourite,’ before moving on and speaking to other members of the crowd.
Queen Elizabeth’s love of corgis was well known and the Welsh breed became synonymous with British royalty, proving themselves a steadfast presence during the Queen’s reign.
While the late monarch’s first dog, Susan, was gifted to her in 1944, she went on to own a whopping 83 corgis and dorgis (corgis and dachshund cross) over 14 generations.
The Prince of Wales, 42, was speaking to locals in the capital of Estonia and was spotted smiling and chatting animatedly with several royal fans before spotting a corgi in the crowd
Prince William’s heartfelt confession comes after he attended a workshop with a range of renewable energy startups at the Cleantech Association and heard how Estonia and other Baltic states are ushering in a new era of energy security.
As founder of the Earthshot Prize, the prince is a huge advocate for finding innovative solutions to tackle environmental challenges and during his visit to the Cleantech Association he was able to meet Estonian clean energy companies who are doing just that.
Anni Oviir, CEO of LCA Support who met the Prince, said: ‘The UK has been a loyal friend to Estonia for more than a century so we’re really excited to welcome the Prince of Wales on his first visit here.
‘While security understandably gets the most attention, we’re grateful that Prince William is also using his time here to learn about how Estonian technology and expertise is helping build a more sustainable world.’
During the royal’s two-day visit, he also visited a school where the future King was taught to say good afternoon in Estonian and Ukrainian.
He then chatted to a group of 16 to 18-year-old students during a Ukrainian language lesson.
During the visit the prince also tried his hand at playing basketball but failed to score a point.
The prince began his day by spending around 35 minutes with Estonia’s President Alar Karis at his official office in Tallinn and at the start of the meeting the statesman thanked the prince for the presence of the UK troops at Tapa military base.
The royal was clearly pleased to see the dog and grinned as he stroked it’s head before making a heartwarming confession
William told the owner of the dog: ‘They were my grandma’s favourite,’ before moving on and speaking to other members of the crowd
Queen Elizabeth’s love of corgis was well known and the Welsh breed became synonymous with British royalty, proving themselves a steadfast presence during the Queen’s reign
While the late monarch’s first dog, Susan, was gifted to her in 1944, she would go on to own a whopping 83 corgis and dorgis (corgis and dachshund cross) over 14 generations
He said: ‘With British troops at Tapa we really, we really appreciate it.’
The prince’s trip is being made predominately in his role as colonel-in-chief of the Mercian Regiment, and on Friday he will meet soldiers from his regiment taking over Nato defence duties in Estonia from The Royal Dragoon Guards.
The president appeared to misspeak when he mentioned the UK’s defence minister and not the armed forces minister who had commented on Nato earlier, when he told William: ‘This morning the defence minister said he’d probably send some troops to Ukraine. Hopefully, some of these troops will stay also.’
Military chiefs from the UK and its allies met in the UK to discuss how a peacekeeping force could operate in Ukraine to deter further Russian attacks if a deal to end the war is reached.
Ahead of the meeting armed forces minister Luke Pollard, commenting on the gathering of military leaders from the ‘coalition of the willing’ told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘If one nation offers fast jet combat air, like a Typhoon aircraft, for instance, how will the other nations work alongside it? Where will it refuel?
‘How will it operate with other nations’ capabilities. It’s that type of planning that we’re doing today to make sure that any force in or around Ukraine can be as credible as possible…’
He went on to say: ‘If a deployment means moving a military asset or capability that’s already deployed, how can we backfill those commitments to make sure that we’re not simply moving all our available resources into one location and leaving other flanks of Nato exposed? That’s why this planning is so important today.’