It isn't every day that Kate Middleton - or the Princess of Wales as she is now known - visits Bracknell. Today the future queen called into Vsi Razom Community Hub in the Lexicon to pay tribute to those Ukrainian refugees. 

But what is it like behind the scenes? 

I arrived at the shopping centre just before 10am and had been briefed ahead of time of how the Princess's visit would play out. It was interesting to see how few people were there originally as the planned visit was to be a surprise. I was among the select few of reporters, volunteers and Royal staff who would get the chance to see her without the usual hoards of people.

When Kate arrived, the first thing I noticed was just how sleek and put-together she looked wearing a trendy £120 grey sweater vest from Samantha Cameron's clothing line, Cefinn  and £130 Sezane trousers. The mother-of-three looked exceptionally put together with impossibly shiny and perfectly-coiffed hair.

Once people had cottoned onto the shopping centre's special visit, the crowd quickly started to pick up with excitement in the air. People started darting forward to take pictures on their phones, as she greeted the community members outside the centre.

Kate appeared to deliberately not take much notice of the press, every glance where she turned to the camera she would quickly look away, as if not wanting to seem like she was pandering in any way. 

We were told beforehand what the Princess would be doing in what exact order, and she followed this seamlessly. She went from donations to the art table to the therapist and to pictures with families, making polite conversation throughout. 

If she was ever interrupted, like when a child asked her to help with a collage, she obliged without hesitation. She spoke at length with many of the children, asking them about ballet or their favourite music.

She was nothing if not demure, telling a little girl that her favourite song was Christian hymn “Shine Jesus Shine,” and when being thanked continuously stating “It’s the least we can do to support". 

At one point, Kate was asked to sign something which she politely declined by instead added her hand-print to a mural created to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Once finished her rounds at the community centre, she came out to the now much larger crowd which had tripled in size, everyone calling out to her whilst filming on their phones with the throngs of people being held back by security guards. The princess then made a B-line for two women in shop-mobility scooters and asked them about their day.

She then had a brief conversation with a boy in a wheelchair who gave her a hug. When she was leaving, the boy cheekily bowed to the crowd, resulting in multiple cheers.

This visit was clearly well-organised and planned by Kensington Palace and went seemlessly - it is obvious the Princess is well-used to these visits. But it was a huge moment for this vibrant community group in Bracknell and it was lovely to see the volunteers a little star-struck and over-the-moon by this out-of-the-ordinary visitor.