Kate Middleton and Prince William Royal Trip: 7 Things We Learned

 

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They Grieve Just Like Us

Prince William rarely talks publicly about his mother's death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

But days after what would have been Princess Diana's 50th birthday, he shared with three Canadian sisters, who lost their mother to breast cancer in 2002, how much he misses the mother he lost when he was 15.

As he walked around a garden that Meryl, Margot and Meghan Cooper created in honor of their mother, Loraine Minish-Cooper, in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, William told the sister he could empathize with their loss.

"He said, 'I know what it's like to lose your mother at such a young age,'" Meghan, 25, told the Daily Mail.

Meryl, 27, added: "William said that he had been there and he knew how hard it is to lose your mother. He said, 'As you know I lost my mother, so I can imagine your pain.'"

They Like to Compete

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Before they competed in the dragon boat race on Prince Edward Island, the duke and duchess engaged in a little friendly ribbing.

Both expected to lose. "I think I am going to take a ducking," Middleton told reporters.

William wasn't quite so sure. "We are both very competitive," he revealed. "She beats me at tennis and skiing but I am better at the rest."

As it turns out, the prince bested his bride but consoled her with a hug.

They Fly Commercial Like Us

The duke and duchess rejected a private jet in favor of a British Airways commercial flight for their return trip to Britain.

The Canadian government picked up the tab for their travel to Canada, sending a Royal Air Force plane to pick them up in London. But they were on their own in the U.S.

Breaking tradition with an older generation of royals -- Prince Charles and Camilla always fly by private plane -- the duke and duchess demonstrated that first class was good enough for them. It was also in keeping with a couple who had decided to travel with a scaled-down staff of seven, and a duchess who dressed herself and did her own makeup.

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