KATE and William finished off their Northern Ireland trip competing with each other and helping out with a local apple harvest.

They had a tour of award-winning family-run farm for Long Meadow Cider, in County Armagh, in Northern Ireland’s so-called ‘Orchard County’.

Long Meadow Farm has been owned by the McKeever family for three generations making cider, apple juice and apple cider vinegar since 1968.

William arrived and said: “Here are the geniuses. This is a family business?”

Owner Peter McKeever told them they had been running the family orchard for more than sixty years.

They then donned aprons to make potato apple bread first rolling out the flour and potato.

Catherine McKeever told William halfway through his effort: “Try and keep it a circle.”

Looking down at his rectangular effort, Wills said to laughter: “A circle? Now you tell me! If you look this way it looks like a circle. This is a new variety!

The royal couple began peeling their baskets of apples and halfway through his first effort, Wills looked at his fruit sna turned to the McKeever family, joking: “If we are peeling every apple you are going to have to start helping. We’ll be here a while

Slicing apple to put inside the bread Pat McKeever called out: “I like mine thick.

William joked: “You’ll get what you’re given.”

Then turned to Kate who appeared to be lagging behind and joked: “Do keep up”

They were also shown the farm’s apple pressing machine and Kate said: “We tried this at home with a hand press. It was quite good fun with the children. It was very messy.”

They were given a glass of apple cider vinegar and both sipped it, and asked if they had tasted it before Kate replied: “I like that. I haven’t take it as shot like this before but I love to put it salads and things like that.”

Turning to William she said: “I put it on the food at home.”

And William replied: “I love it.”

The royals were asked to help out with the apple harvest picking golden delicious and bramley apple varieties.

Handed baskets Kate filled hers up much quicker than William.

The Princess said: “As soon as you pic one they fall.”

But watching William struggling, she joked: “Don’t drop the fruit William.”

Speaking to the owners Pat and Catherine McKeever, Willam said: “I was saying the trees are like something from Harry Potter.”

Earlier in the day, Kate and Wills joined trainee firefighters taking part in drills.

Wills and Kate got involved while visiting Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service’s £50million new Learning and Development College, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.

The couple watched as emergency workers simulated rescuing a casualty from a fast-flowing river.

And William and Kate then put their skills to the test themselves as they took part in a flood rescue drill – from the safety of the bank.

Both royals attempted to throw a line attached to a float to rescue a “casualty”, played by an instructor.

But unfortunately neither manage to reach him as he was swept past by the current with William and Kate watching on open-mouthed.

Will and Kate were shown around by Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Aidan Jennings – walking past a replica village into a training warehouse where the drills were taking place.

The Princess of Wales joked that she wanted to drive at full speed with the “sirens on” as she and Wills took a ride in the back of a fire engine.

Wills and Kate warmly greeted two recent graduates of the 18-week training course.

Caoimhe, 25, and her fellow graduate Piarais McCaffery, 32, were chosen to spend time with the royal visitors after passing out as graduates in June.

And Kate “was wanting the sirens on” during the short drive across the training site, “but the driver was strictly told no,” newly qualified firefighter Caoimhe McNeice, said.

She added: “The Princess was saying, ‘I’d love to drive at the real speed and have the sirens on,’ but they were getting to the water rescue [area], it was just a bit of banter.”

Caoimhe said: “She (Kate) was wanting the Prince to drive, but no, the driver got us there safely anyway.”

Piarais said: “They were both lovely, great, down to earth people. It was great to showcase our Learning and Development College to them, and they were blown away by it.”

He said William and Kate were “very, very genuine and interested, especially with the water facility.”

The college is the largest investment ever undertaken by the NIFRS.

Training facilities at the countryside base include the flood water rescue simulator.

Aidan Jennings, NIFRS chief fire officer, described the visit as “a proud and unforgettable day” for the service.

He said; “With a one team ethos in NIFRS, our personnel work together to help make Northern Ireland a safer place.

“It was a privilege to have our royal visitors meet many people across our Service and recognise their commitment, dedication and enthusiasm in doing so.

“I’m honoured that the Prince and Princess witnessed first-hand how the real-life scenario-based training facilities are revolutionising how we train and develop our people enabling us to meet the evolving needs of a modern-day Fire & Rescue Service.

“Our next generation of Firefighters currently undergoing their training at the college clearly demonstrated that today in their display of operational skills and capabilities.

“I would like to sincerely thank the Prince and Princess for their visit, their kind words, support and recognition of the work of all our people in NIFRS dedicated to serving our community and keeping people safe.

“I would also like to thank the Northern Ireland Office, the Executive Office and the Department of Health for their efforts and support in making this memorable visit possible.”

Wills and Kate have visited Northern Ireland on a number of occasions, the most recent trip being in 2022.

During that visit, they went to a suicide prevention charity in Belfast, participated in a cocktail-making race at a market, and visited a youth charity in Carrickfergus.

They have also made trips in 2019 and 2021, focusing on different areas like sports, youth support, and the new medical school at Ulster University.

Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales visited a centre for parents and children in Oxford last week.

Kate was at Home-Start Oxford to speak about the “everyday moments of love and connection” between parents and children and “lay foundations for lifelong social and emotional skills”.

And the Princess of Wales also recently warned smartphones and screens are causing an “epidemic of disconnection” in an essay.

Kate published the document after William revealed they won’t allow their three children to have mobiles.

Her 1,500-word essay, The Power Of Human Connection In A Distracted World, was written in collaboration with Harvard psychiatry professor Robert Waldinger, who has worked with Kate’s project, the Royal Foundation Centre For Early Childhood.