When the Hogwarts Express pulls up in your back garden, it would be rather rude for one not to hop aboard.
So when Hogsmeade Station was built on Windsor Great Park, which his just a stone’s throw from Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s new home, Forest Lodge, the couple ensured that their three children pop along to the set to watch the filming of the forthcoming Harry Potter television series.
On Friday night Kate took Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for a spellbinding visit where they met the cast which includes Dominic McLaughlin, 11, who is portraying young wizard Harry, and watched some scenes be recorded in what would have been a magical evening for the young royals who are huge fans of the movies.
And Prince Louis, seven, had an extra special magical time as he did hop on the Hogwarts Express for a short ride along the half a mile of track that has been erected there which runs through the woodland, about a mile to the rear of the Waleses’ new home.
One on set source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It was so special, Kate and the children met the young actors and the director on the set. There was only one night of filming there so it really was a magical ticket.
‘And as for Louis, he got the chance to ride on the train with the driver. He seemed to absolutely love it. It’s the dream for most children to step aboard the Hogwarts Express.’
Earlier in the week Kate and William took the children to have a look at the £4million set which was built in Windsor, Berkshire, to replicate the Scottish Highlands where Harry Potter creator JK Rowling set her series of books.
It is understood that they were then invited to return to watch live filming on Friday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales took their three children along to watch the filming of the forthcoming Harry Potter television series
Prince Louis had an extra magical time as he hopped on the Hogwarts Express for a short ride (File Image)
In 2017 Queen Camilla revealed that King Charles read Harry Potter books to his grandchildren – including Prince George, 14, and Princess Charlotte, ten, saying: ‘Sometimes, when we are with my husband in Scotland, he reads them Harry Potter.
‘And he does all the voices, because he is a brilliant mimic. I’m not very good. I try to do the voices, but acting isn’t my forte. But he sits down and they all sit with him.
‘I always think they are going to be wriggling around in the bed, but they sit spellbound. He’s extremely good with children. They love it.’
For weeks, craftsmen had been building the station, used by boy wizard Harry and fellow Hogwarts pupils in the books and films before the locomotive arrived last week.
The final movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts One and Two, were also made at Windsor Great Park.
The Harry Potter series is set to premiere in 2027 and will be based on Ms Rowling’s 11 books and movies.
As well as Mr McLaughlin replacing Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Arabella Stanton will play Hermione Granger – a role previously portrayed by Emma Watson and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
Prince Andrew also visited the Harry Potter set last week along with some of his grandchildren.
The disgraced royal, who was yesterday named in new files that relate to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was seen looking at the Hogwarts Express on Wednesday with daughters Beatrice and Eugenie’s children.
Staff working on the set were stunned to see him there as he found himself further engulfed in the scandal just days after The Mail on Sunday revealed that his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson had apologised to Epstein for ‘publicly disowning him’ and described him as a ‘supreme friend.’
A source on the set, which is just metres from Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge home, said: ‘It was all a bit strange that he turned up but it was lovely to see the children having a great time.
‘They were busy looking at the Hogwarts Express and it genuinely seemed like a magical time for them.’