The Princess of Wales has been given a quick lesson in pancake-making — and all did not go to plan.
Kate joked that children may boycott her pancakes after she branded her attempts unfit to eat.
She laughed as she struggled to free the batter mix from a frying pan, but successfully tossed it, when she joined residents at a nursing home enjoying a Shrove Tuesday treat.
Before she started, the princess predicted a culinary mishap, telling Anna Wright, head chef at Oxford House Nursing Home: “I always seem to get my pancakes stuck either in the pan or the ceiling or the floor.”
After pouring the batter into a frying pan, Kate keenly watched it, spatula in hand, asking Ms Wright for advice.
Kate said: “This is where I go wrong, I obviously try and turn them too quickly.”
Conscious of the large number of residents, staff and press silently watching, the princess quipped: “I wish there was, like, music going on.”
Laughing, she added: “Maybe the children won't want to do pancakes … 'Mummy we've seen you do it — no way'.”
After finally prising the pancake free she held the frying pan with both hands and tossed the batter mix, to applause from the audience, before pointing at her efforts and saying: “Definitely don't eat that one.”
She learnt how those at the end of their lives are supported at Oxford House Nursing Home in Slough, Berkshire.
The nursing home looks after up to 34 residents. It also operates a domiciliary care organisation, Oxford House Community Care, which provides support to enable local residents to live independently in their own homes.
They also have an interactive sensory table, bought in 2020 in response to pandemic restrictions, and a new interactive wall, which will be used to support residents with dementia.
