The Prince of Wales granted the request of a little boy and gave him a hug, and promised to put his picture on the royal fridge.
William found himself hugged, posing for selfies and was even quizzed about who he wanted to win I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! during a visit to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
The future king chatted to a group of military families from the base and when three-year-old Blake Fearnley presented him with a picture of Mickey Mouse, his mother Laura Fearnley, 33, said the royal took it and said “he would put it on his fridge”.
Mrs Fearnley said about her son: “He walked off and then Blake decided he wanted to ask William for a cuddle so he followed him and said ‘please William may I have a cuddle’ and he did.”
William found himself talking football with twins Abi and Steph Boland, who were left ecstatic when he posed for a video selfie with the 10-year-olds, fans of the prince’s beloved Aston Villa team.
Steph Boland said: “He said we’ve got a good team and we’ll ‘have it’ next season.”
Corporal Rachael Howes chatted to William when he met RAF personnel from the base involved in sport as he opened the RAF Coningsby new boxing club.
Cpl Howes, who plays in the Coningsby’s women’s team, put the prince on the spot about the reality show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! when she said: “I asked him who he wanted to win, Lioness Jill Scott or his relative Mike Tindall.”
The prince smiled and was overheard saying: “That’s a tricky one,” but diplomatically did not pick a winner.
Earlier, William was given a glimpse of the future when he donned a pair of virtually reality goggles being designed to improve fighter jet maintenance.
The prince was show an array of innovative products under development to help technicians keep the planes airworthy at RAF Coningsby.
In a huge hanger used to maintain Typhoon jets used by two squadrons based at Coningsby, the future king chatted to RAF technicians and their BAE Systems counterparts.
William laughed as he turned down the opportunity to wear an exoskeleton that can help ground crew with repetitive and tiring tasks, but put on the goggles.
He said: “It’s weird“ as he prodded a damaged cylindrical shape in cyber space, representing a mock section of fuselage, then added “very clever”.
During the visit, the future king also toured the base’s Air Traffic Control Centre and learnt about “Project Marshall”, a multibillion- pound equipment upgrade programme to enhance the RAF’s air traffic services across Lincolnshire.
