The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s sporting rivalries have surfaced again, with the royal couple facing off against each other in a boat race in Heidelberg, Germany.
Crowds gathered to watch as the royal couple coxed opposing teams in the contest on the River Neckar, commanding crews made up of rowers from Heidelberg and its twin city, Cambridge.
Before the competition got underway, the Duchess jokingly told her side: “no pressure, but I do want to beat my husband,” according to the UK’s Press Association news agency.
The Duke’s crew emerged victorious, but both teams – and their royal captains – were given medals in a ceremony after the race.
On previous royal visits, Prince William and Catherine have gone head-to-head in a dragon boat race in Canada, and in a sailing contest in Auckland, according to PA.
Earlier in the day, the pair were photographed learning to make pretzels at a traditional German market in Heidelberg, a historic university city in the country’s southwest.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the couple’s young children, are accompanying their parents on their five-day visit to Poland and Germany.
The family has attracted large groups of eager spectators on each stop of their tour, including in the German capital, Berlin, where William and Catherine met Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The trip came at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; it is seen by many as a “soft power” attempt at diplomacy, as the UK’s Brexit negotiations get underway.
