LONDON, United Kingdom -- Future king Prince William on Wednesday gave a glimpse of life behind the palace gates including his son’s budding talent as a wildlife artist and his own love of chocolate biscuit cake and cider with ice. William paid tribute to the “quiet pride” and strength of rural communities in the November edition of Country Life magazine, which he guest edited. “Nobody, in my experience, talks about ‘rural communities’ in the abstract. They talk about their village. Their farm. Their high street. Their children. It is personal, it’s special, because it is theirs,” he wrote in a first person piece. William and his wife Catherine, also known as Kate, split their time between properties on his father King Charles III’s Windsor Castle estate and Norfolk in eastern England. The couple, formally known as the Prince and Princess of Wales, have three children Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11 and Prince Louis, eight. William is a major landowner, having inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate spanning 128,000 acres (51,000 hectares) across parts of England and Wales, from the king. Asked to name a few of his favourite things linked to country life, William listed a bird identification mobile phone app, his dogs Orla and Otto, and a Land Rover Defender “a 2016 model in British racing green.” Equally important, he said, was a flat cap that “shows you belong, that you have a deeper connection with the countryside”, and a pair of swimming trunks for impromptu dips “if I come across a beautiful stretch of river on a walk.” William, a fan of the traditional British pub, revealed his favourite tipple was cider, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented apple juice. “I love very cold cider with ice,” he said. The issue also published a recipe for chocolate biscuit cake from the royal kitchens. The cake, which he enjoys so much it was served at his wedding, was a regular feature of afternoon teas with his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Describing himself as definitely having a sweet tooth, he added he was “quite militant” about the recipe which had to be just the right balance of chocolate to biscuit. And the magazine published a detailed drawing of a kingfisher perched on a branch by William’s eldest son George, said to have been completed when he was aged 12.
