JUNGLE VIP
Kate drinks water from vines in Belize jungle before going glam for reception with Wills
KATE Middleton yesterday stunned guests in her glam pink frock after spending the day in the Belize jungle drinking water from vines.
The Duke, 39, and Duchess of Cambridge, 40, were given a "truly authentic jungle experience" and were taught how to catch and kill wildlife after a trek.
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And last night, the royal pair stunned guests at a reception at the Mayan ruins at Cahal Pech.
Kate stepped out in a stunning pink glitzy dress while Wills looked suave in a blue suit.
Speaking about his son George during the reception held to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, the Duke told guests that his son is always keen to find out about different parts of the world.
William said: "We let them know where we are and he finds us on the map and puts a pin in it and shares with the others."
The Duchess wowed the crowd wearing the stunning metallic dress -designed by Vampire's Wife - and finished off her gorgeous outfit with a Maya embroidered bag.
The couple met community leaders, well-known Belizeans, and members of Government, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Johnny Brienco.
The Cambridges will fly to Jamaica later, the next stop on their eight-day tour of the Caribbean, and receive an official welcome into the country.
Earlier yesterday, the couple guzzled water from huge water vines that had been hacked down in a machete to show their dedication.
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Kate giggled as she cocked her head back and funneled the water in with the help of a Belizean troop.
They were greeted by British and Belizean soldiers working side by side at the British Army Training Support Unit (BATSUB) in the undergrowth.
It was a return visit for future king William, 39, who spent a with a specialist unit in 2000 at the start of his gap year before university.
It also presented an opportunity for him to reunite with his former academy sergeant major at Sandhurst who now runs the jungle unit.
William and Kate spent more than an hour and a half being taken on a crash course in survival techniques and taught to British soldiers who almost all spend 6-8 weeks in that Belize jungle as part of their training.
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Arriving at the BATSUB HQ, dubbed ‘The Schoolhouse’, the couple were briefed on the five main pillars of survival in the environment - cooking; animal traps; shelters; water capture and fire.
The squaddies had spent five days cleaning a portion of the jungle with machetes to set up camp and before the royals arrival.
They were shown how to boil water using a plastic bottle dangling over a fire, fashion a bamboo tree to use as a pressure cooker and sharpen a bamboo spear to create a medieval type weapon to trap and kill monkeys and birds to eat.
William got stuck in after watching a demonstration and had a go of a contraption used to gain much-needed food in the jungle.
William said: “I’ve been a monkey a few times but this is extraordinary.”
Looking at the trap, suspended 15feet in the air from a tree, William turned to the observing press pack and joked: “Ah, it could trap the media!“
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The Cambridges even quenched their thirsts with some water from huge overhead vines, before watching the skills of Belize soldiers.
One extraordinary troop demonstrated the art of creating a flame by vigorously rubbing two pieces of bamboo together.
As Kate looked on William congratulated the solider saying: “You did far better than me, I wouldn’t have even got the smoke going.”
After being reunited with William and meeting Kate for the first time, BATSUB commander Lieutenant Colonel Simon Nichols said: “It was great to see Prince William again as it always is.
William has aged gracefully and much the same man as I remember. I hope their time here was useful and they enjoyed themselves.
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Nichols
"William has aged gracefully and much the same man as I remember. I hope their time here was useful and they enjoyed themselves.
"Every time I am in the jungle you learn a lot, every day is a school day in this environment.
"The jungle is our Crown Jewels and we all have a duty to protect them for each other."
Their exotic excursion came after the pair were wowed during a guided tour of ancient Mayan ruins called the 'Sky Palace'.
Kate stunned in a bright white t-shirt tucked into green trousers paired with white pumps as the Duke donned a matching green outfit.
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She led him up the steep steps of the side of the 141ft high jungle ruins in Caracol, in Belize.
The couple were shown around the 2,400-year-old Mayan marvel by archaeologist Allan Moore - who compared the ancient site to Buckingham Palace.
They posed halfway up on a plateau similar to the palace balcony on which they kissed for the crowds at their 2012 wedding.
The palace adventure came on the couple's third day of
FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE TO THE SKY
Allan Moore, archaeologist, said: "What you are seeing is the Buckingham Palace of its day.
";Three thousand years ago this would have seemed very modern."
The stunning relic remains the tallest man-made structure in Belize today where the ancient Mayans would place their rulers at the top of their known world.
It was called Canaa which translates into 'Sky Palace'.
More than 150,000 people would have lived in settlement around the temple at his height.
But Kate and William were given free reign of the empty remote ruins a two-hour bus drive down inaccessible forest tracks - which attracts a handful of tourists every day.
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On the guided tour Allan Moore told them: "It's like looking at the inside of Buckingham Palace. This is just a small fraction of what we have here."
The original settlement dates back to 400BC, developing into a more prosperous city by 200AD.
It measured a staggering 75 square miles and is five times larger than even the country’s biggest modern inhabitation, Belize City.
Its name derives from the Spanish for snail shell because of the spiralling access road that led to the site.
Mr Moore showed the couple some ancient Mayan carvings, with the couple pointing out lizards, fish nibbling on water lilies and a feline shape which he explained could have been a jaguar, a resident of the jungle area surrounding them.
He also walked them round to an area where the ancient Maya used to play ball games.
HISTORY LESSON
As the couple caught a glimpse of the vista the couple marvelled at what they saw.
William got the giggles when, as he turned back away from the view - which was being captured by a group of photographers - to find another set of snappers the other side of them.
"We got one [ group] one aide and another the other. You are in each other’s photographs," he laughed.
The couple then continued on their climb accompanied by their own personal photographer.
Mr Moore told them as they climbed the steep steps up: "People often like to try and run up here."
"What, they race?’ Exclaimed William. "You must be very fit if you are doing this three times a week Allan!"
After learning the history of the Mayans and the rediscovery of the ruins in 1937 the couple visited the British Army Training Support Unit.
Wills spent time with BATSUB when he was with the Welsh Guards in 2000.
They were set to witness survival tactics used in the Chiquibul Forest - which is part of the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy.
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Britain keeps a garrison of 40 soldiers in Belize.
The Duke of Cambridge was also last night set to deliver a speech - in which he is set to mention the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and war in Ukraine - to the Belize PM and VIPS at Mayan Ruins of Cahal Pech, which was once a palatial, hilltop home for an elite Maya family.
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