Cheeky Prince Louis lobs clothes onto pile while helping pack boxes at baby bank – while big brother and sister fold them sensibly
This is the hilarious moment Prince Louis playfully lobbed some clothes on top of a pile of while helping sort through donations at a baby bank.
The cheeky royal, five, who is known to steal the show at royal events with his playful antics, joined his mother, the Princess of Wales, as well as siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte to help out with the baby bank’s Christmas gift appeal.
The Wales children helped their mother and volunteers pick out donations and make boxes to go children in need for Christmas.
While sorting through piles of donated clothes, sensible George, 10, and Charlotte, eight folded up clothes like their mother Kate.
But unlike his older siblings Louis picked up and lobbd a T-shirt onto the neat pile.
Prince Louis playfully lobbed some clothes on top of a pile of while helping sort through donations at a baby bank with his mother
The cheeky royal, known for his playful antics, appeared wowed when he sorted through bags of toys for underprivileged children and pulled out a huge plastic King Kong.
In a rare audio of his voice, he holds up the huge toy to his sister Princess Charlotte , eight, and says: ‘This is a big guy!’
Charlotte, whose voice has also only been heard publicly on a few occasions, is also heard saying: ‘Oh la la’ as she walks into the centre and sees the array of toys on display.
The audio of the children’s voices can be heard in a slick video released by Kensington Palace this afternoon of the Wales children’s trip to the baby bank last month for an afternoon of volunteering – after their mother Kate, 41, promised to take them.
Louis, wearing a Fair Isle jumper over a checked shirt, holds his own box, grinning broadly, ahead of his sister wearing a red jumper, skirt and ankle boots and George in a navy jumper, blue trousers and trainers.
The three young royals then walk into the Windsor centre carrying their own donations.
Sporting a white roll-neck jumper, Kate helps her three youngsters to put down their boxes and tells them: ‘Here there are lots of people who give up their time. And there are lot of volunteers who come and help out. And so you’re the volunteers for this evening.’
‘Ooh la la,’ exclaims Charlotte, using a favourite phrase of hers.
The Wales children helped their mother and volunteers pick out donations and make boxes to go children in need for Christmas. From left: Louis, Kate, George and Charlotte
While sorting through piles of donated clothes, sensible George, 10, and Charlotte, eight (pictured) folded up clothes like their mother Kate
‘Let’s see,’ says Louis eagerly, peeking into bags of donations.
Charlotte picks out a tiny coat. ‘So sweet,’ she says, endearingly.
As the children’s voices are heard on the video, it marks a rare occasion on which royal fans can actually hear how the Wales children sound.
Although Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have had the eyes of the world on them on many occasions, including the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and funeral and King Charles’s Coronation, it is uncommon to hear them speak on camera.
However, there have been a few occasions on which the royal children’s voices have been heard – for example, football-mad Princess Charlotte’s well-wishes to the Lionesses at the Euros last summer in a video recorded with Prince William, when she simply said: ‘Good luck, I hope you win, bye!’ She recorded a similar message with her father ahead of the Women’s World Cup final this summer.
Unlike his sensible siblings, Louis lobbed a T-shirt onto the pile
Louis seemed excited to help his mother sort through clothes
As a toddler, Charlotte also revealed her voice to the world in an impromptu moment at her little brother Louis’s christening – when she stared down photographers outside the church and told them: ‘You’re not coming.’
In 2020, all three Wales siblings gave Sir David Attenborough a grilling in a video shared by Kensington Palace, asking him tough questions about species facing extinction and other environmental issues.
And fearless Princess Charlotte, who was just five years old at the time, revealed to the environmentalist that she likes spiders – asking him if he shared her love of arachnids.
Three years on from the Attenborough quizzing, royal fans have had another glimpse into the lives of the Wales children, as they express their excitement over the tasks they are helping out with.
The children start busily picking out gifts, Charlotte and George each holding a festive bag and placing items inside.
Louis seems particularly excited by a giant toy King Kong, grabbing it and exclaiming: ‘This is a big guy! ‘
George and Charlotte can also be seen handwriting notes for the gift bags.
A quarter of families with a child under five years of age live in poverty in the UK, according to the Department of Work and Pensions – meaning that baby banks have become a sad necessity of life for many and provide a vital lifeline in challenging circumstances.
During the visit, little Louis pulled out a toy version of King Kong from the array of gifts and commented on how big the plastic gorilla was
Louis, five, seemed very taken indeed by the toy and held it in his hands while Charlotte was busy in the background
Louis held up the toy to show his older sister, who was distracted by the task at hand as they sorted the gifts
Louis appeared keen to show everyone the King Kong toy, suggesting he was very impressed by it
The Bank at Windsor has been making up gift bags for children for the past five years and this Christmas will distribute 1,500 of them, as well as their usual parcels of clothes and goods.
The royal youngsters then turn their hand to sorting through clothing donations.
The Princess tells her children: ‘All these bags are donations and then we have to go and sort them and put them in all the boxes. ‘
‘Do you like this one?’ Charlotte is asked by a team member. ‘Yeah!’ she says.
George holds up a Hawaiian-print shirt to add to his bundle, as Louis helps examine a label on green toy to make sure it is suitable for children.
Charlotte gets the giggles at a tiny baby-gro with little emblems on it: ‘This is Welsh,’ she says excitedly.
One staff member can be heard saying: ‘George wants to come back, which is good.’
Putting her arm around her eldest son’s shoulders, Kate says: ‘You can see how rewarding this sort of work is, knowing you are helping others.’
‘Yes, ‘ her eldest son replies seriously.
The trio are then seen carefully carrying their gift bags downstairs ready to be taken to youngsters in the area in time for Christmas.
Pricness Charlotte helped her mother sort through some of the children’s clothing at the baby bank – and was particularly taken by a ‘cute’ baby gro
Charlotte turned to her mother, who looked elegant in a white turtle neck jumper and earrings with pearl detailing, and remarked on how tiny the outfit was
Charlotte looked deep in concentration as she sorted through some of the toys and Christmas gifts, analysing each one carefully
Charlotte’s help was enlisted by a member of staff at the baby bank as they sorted through Christmas gift bags
The video ends with the message: ‘Thank you to everyone who so generously supports Baby Banks across the country.’
Windsor Baby Bank was started by two local mothers in 2015 and has since supported more than 24,000 families in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, which despite being close to Windsor Castle has huge pockets of deprivation.
The cost of living crisis has seen a dramatic rise in referrals, with the team helping a further 300 families in the first three months of the year alone with everything from new-born starter kits to nappies, buggies, and beds.
Unlike other baby banks they provide clothes, including school uniforms, for children up to the age of 16.
They receive no public finding and rely on voluntary help and donations, grants, retailers and local suppliers.
The staff take care to match-up specific children with donations so they don’t feel like they are relying on random hand-outs.
At the time the time of her first visit the princess said: ‘There is community support out there but it’s knowing where to go to get that support. And there is a stigma that exists sometimes. ‘
She asked what would help shine a spotlight on the valuable work they do and was told: ‘Having people like you visit!’
Which is why she promised to bring her own children down.
Co-founder of The Bank Bank in Windsor, Rebecca Mistry, told the Mail that she was so delighted the Princess of Wales made good her promise.
‘It was such a fab visit, and lovely she could bring them in. It was nice for them, too, to come somewhere their mummy had been,’ she said.
‘We do have children coming down to volunteer quite regularly and their school [Lambrook, attended by George, Charlotte and Louis] recently organised a big collection of Christmas pyjamas and books and treats.
‘You never know how the children coming here will take it but they were so well-behaved.
We gave them some lists to work on and asked them to pack bags for children their own ages. They were so good at it.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s eldest son George, 10, dutifully helped his mother Kate pack some bags
George took a look at some of the gifts up for grabs that will go towards struggling families at Christmas
The concentration on Charlotte’s face was immeasurable as she folded some shirts that had been donated
Eight-year-old Charlotte wore her hair in a ponytail and sported a red top and a denim skirt as she helped out
Charlotte and her siblings got to work sorting presents, writing labels and organising and also writing messages for children who might receive the gifts
As the eldest sibling who is now almost as tall as his mother, George was enlisted to do a little bit more of the heavy lifting
The eldest Wales sibling chatted to a volunteer at the baby bank as he sifted through some of the books that had been donated
Louis built a sweet gift bag which featured penguins wearing hats and scarves – and appeared to contain a wrestling belt
Louis put his hands in his pockets and looked up to a volunteer as he spoke to her about what the charity does
The Wales children helped their mother Kate pack up the car at the end of the volunteering afternoon with stock to give to others
‘Louis made a beeline for the King Kong. It was about a foot and half tall. His eyes lit up and he said ‘This is brilliant’. He was absolutely determined the little boy the bag was being packed for would get it. And it has actually gone out. We told them we had a very special volunteer who helped chose it, but couldn’t say who. They were very intruiged.
‘Louis also found our big bag of dressing up clothes which had an RAF jump suit in. He thought that was very cool and made sure it went into another bag. ‘
Mrs Mistry added: ‘We are always really careful in matching the gift to the right child. The children didn’t ask to be in this position, so we want them to feel like this is something special. ‘
She said Princess Charlotte has already asked if she could come back to help again.
‘Charlotte also asked personally to help pack a baby referral bag. She spotted the Welsh baby-gro and shouted ‘Mummy look at this’. She showed it to George as well.
The Waleses released their official Christmas card photo on Saturday evening, featuring the whole family in smart-casual outfits as they beamed into the camera
During Kate’s first visit to the same baby bank earlier this year, she appeared taken by the tiny baby gros – just as her daughter Charlotte was on this visit
‘They were here for probably an hour and a half, two hours. They kept on asking if they could do some more and also if they could come back again. Charlotte definitely asked to come back and we said we could sign her up for the summer holidays.
‘She was wonderful, working through the list methodically. She was so organised and knew what she wanted to do.
‘I think people think because they live in Windsor it must be a very affluent area. That’s such a misconception. The majority of our work is done locally, there are real areas of need.’
Mrs Mistry said it was ‘such a huge compliment’ for the princess to make good on her promise to come back.
‘It was such good fun. It was so lovely and such a huge compliment that she came back. She said she would and she did,’ she said.
‘We saw a rise in people seeking help after her last visit, they didn’t know our service existed to help, so we know first-hand what an affect her interest in what we does has on the ground.’