Prince William, who will soon become president of the Football Association (FA), trained today with Charlton Athletic, who are currently second in the Premier League. Asked how he got on, he admitted he is not as fit as he would like to be.

The Prince begins Officer Training at Sandhurst Military Academy in the New Year, when he will undergo an arduous fitness regime. The first five weeks in particular are notorious for breaking lesser recruits. The Prince’s uncle, Prince Edward famously bought himself out of his Commando training when it proved too much. Prince Harry, however, has so far breezed through his Sandhurst initiation, despite lowered lung fitness caused by smoking.

Later, Prince William played football with youngsters who could scarcely believe they were playing with a Prince. “Football has awesome power,” said William, “Young boys are all the better for playing it. I hope to encourage as many as possible to take it up.”

The Prince of Wales set out his “green” agenda yesterday. Speaking on the BBC, he claimed that the interests of the environment were not getting enough attention from the Government or the people :

“Climate change is the greatest challenge to face mankind. If you think about your and my grandchildren, this is what really worries me. I don’t want them, if I’m still alive by then, to say, ‘Why didn’t you do something about it, when you could have done?’ I’ve had a particular interest in trying to grow things in as natural a way as possible, only because I felt it was inherently unsuitable to go on being able to expect endless chemical and artificial fertilisers to be poured on and not to suffer the consequences at the end of the day.”

After the birth of Princess Margaret, the then Princess Elizabeth announced the news to Lady Cynthia Asquith:

“‘I’ve got a baby sister, Margaret Rose, and I’m going to call her Bud.’ ‘Why Bud?’ ‘Well, she’s not a real Rose yet, is she? She’s just a bud.’”

An anecdote relating to one of Prince Philip’s visits to Brazil is told by Kenneth Rose in his book, Kings, Queens and Courtiers:

“The bantering tone sometimes hurts unintentionally. He asked a Brazilian admiral if he had won his dazzling display of medals on the artificial lake of his country’s capital, Brazilia. ‘Yes, Sir,’ the victim replied, ‘not by marriage.’”