Duchess of Cambridge gifts pasta maker to British pensioner she has been secretly calling during lockdown

The royal bonded with the 85-year-old carer over their love of Italian food

The Duchess of Cambridge has been volunteering to call a pensioner during the coronavirus pandemic. Kensington Palace

The kindness of strangers has been a prevailing memory of the darkest points of the coronavirus pandemic.

This week, a British pensioner revealed that since the first lockdown in the UK, the Duchess of Cambridge has made phone calls to him, to try and ensure he is not lonely during long periods of isolation.

"I was flabbergasted when I found out who would be calling. The first question I asked was, 'How do I address you?' She said, 'Call me Catherine'," Len Gardner told The Sun of their first conversation in May.

"After the first two sentences I didn’t feel like I was talking to someone so important ... She told me Prince George and Princess Charlotte were playing in the garden and she was keeping an eye on them through the window."

According to the British newspaper, Gardner, 85, has bladder cancer and acts as a carer for his wife, Shirley, 84, who has Alzheimer’s.

It seems that the pair bonded over a love for Italian food and the royal asked if he likes to make his own pasta to which he replied: "I don’t, because I haven’t got a pasta machine and in any case, you have to use a special flour."

He then revealed, “About three days after our conversation, a brand new pasta machine arrived from the duchess. Two days later I got two kilos of ‘00’ flour from Buckingham Palace.

“I can tell you, this lady you see on television that goes into the crowds and talks to people, what you see is what you get. She is a very, very nice person.”

A month after their first call, the duchess called back and the pair spoke for 40 minutes.

"I learnt more about the duchess's children," he said. "Apparently they have thousands of sheep down at Sandringham and her eldest children couldn't understand how we get wool without killing the animal. So she took them down to the sheds to watch the sheep being sheared.

"It was the sort of conversation I might have with anyone about their family. She didn't mention William much. But I gabble on a lot."

It is now at the top of his “bucket list” to meet her in person.

"The duke and duchess are a brilliant couple for doing this kind of thing. They really seem to want to reach out to people," says Gardner, from Batley, West Yorkshire. "I think the duchess felt she wanted to speak to other people outside the Palace and in the north."

Kate and William's UK train tour 

This week, the couple have embarked upon a mini train tour of the UK. The couple wanted to pay "tribute to the inspiring work of those who have gone above and beyond to support communities during this challenging year for the nation".

They will meet "frontline workers, teachers, mental health professionals, care workers, schoolchildren and young people across England, Scotland and Wales to pass on the nation’s thanks for their efforts this year".