THE Duchess of Cambridge took a trip down memory lane when she spotted two of her Berkshire primary school teachers she had not seen in almost 25 years.

Kate was left surprised when a chance meeting saw her embrace her old prep school teachers from her days at St Andrew's Prep School in Pangbourne, West Berkshire.

Her former teachers Denise Evans-Allford and husband Kevin Allford travelled from their now home in Carmarthen to meet Kate - the first time they have seen her in 24 years.

They both taught Kate, as well as siblings Pippa and James, at the prep school, Mrs Evans-Allford taught PE at the school, while Mr Allford taught French and German to Kate.

It formed part of William and Kate's whistle-stop tour of south Wales this week, stopping at Mumbles seafront in Swansea to learn about the issues affecting the area and its people.

Kate exclaimed "it's such a small world" after seeing her old teachers following a visit to Joe's ice cream parlour, run by the fifth generation of a family originally from Italy, where the duke and duchess were served sweet treats and met parents who had completed Kate's early years survey.

"As they were coming to Wales today, we drove from Carmarthen to try to say hello to them," Mr Allford said.

"One of the detectives took a note in to the ice cream parlour for us and she came out. It is wonderful she gave us so much time. We were talking about happy days that we had."

The chance meeting capped a day that saw the Cambridges celebrate local lifeboat crews, promote Kate's early year survey, learn about Tata Steel at Port Talbot and spend time with children strengthening their mental health through boxing.

They were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers and the royal couple stopped to speak and shake hands with many of the members of the public who had come to catch a glimpse of the pair.