The Duchess of Cambridge was made to work hard for her sweet treats during a visit to a chocolate farm on the first full day of her Caribbean tour with husband Prince William.
Kate tried her hand at grinding chocolate nibs, broken-up made cocoa beans, which is back-breaking work traditionally performed by the women in rural communities, during their visit to the Che ‘il chocolate farm in Belize.
At the farm, Kate wore a gorgeous new blue floral dress by designer Tory Burch, along with new earrings by Sezane Paris and wedge sandals by Stuart Weitzman. She carried a recycled straw fan clutch bag by Anya Hindmarch she used on a tour of Canada in 2011.
The future Queen also watched her husband pounding away with a mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock as he ground the nibs too and she said: “The smell of the chocolate is amazing.”
William even joked about giving up his day job as a working royal asking Julio Saqui owner of the family run chocolate firm “Do you take apprentices? Can I come and work for you it’s my kind of thing.”
The couple’s eyes also lit up when they saw chocolate fountains – dipping tortilla chips into the brown sticky liquid – and they tried hot chocolate made from the organic farm with Kate confessing: “I think our children will be very jealous.”
William and Kate visited the chocolate producer in the south of the country today in what was a late addition to their schedule after furious farmers forced a previously-planned engagement to be axed.
Instead of visiting the cacao producer, William and Kate had been due to visit another sustainable cacao farmer.
But the engagement was hastily axed to avoid conflict after villagers staged a protest, with banners proclaiming: “Prince William leave our land.”
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The Q’eqchi Maya people live in Indian Creek, in the foothills of the Maya Mountains.
They say they were not consulted about William and Kate’s visit and were outraged their helicopter was to land on a local football field - and the trip was cancelled.
William and Kate arrived in Belize yesterday and spent around an hour chatting with Prime Minister Johnny Briceno and his wife Rosanna at the start of the eight-day trip to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The couple looked relaxed after their 11-hour long-haul trip from the UK and were welcomed by Belize’s Governor General Froyla Tzalam as they stepped from the Voyager ministerial jet.
When the Cambridges met Belize’s prime minister and his wife around an hour later, William said: “It’s lovely to be here.”
“Thanking you so much,” the Prime Minister replied, adding: “We’re so happy you’re here.”
“There were lots of questions in the car,” said Kate, laughing, and clearly referring to William.
The Prime Minister and his wife then invited Kate and William to sit in a lounge area in his office building which overlooks the ocean.
“It’s such a lovely view,” said the duchess.
