DANCING Queen Kate joined Bollywood performers, tasted chai and visited family businesses on Leicester’s “Golden Mile”.

The Princess of Wales bonded with people who have this week been marking Holi – the Indian festival of colours, love and spring

Princess Kate took part in a dance during her visit to the Shreeji Dham Haveli Hindu TempleCredit: Getty
 

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Catherine arrived in Leicester in a cream jacket and matching dressCredit: Max Mumby
 

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Kate joined the dance at a Hindu temple.Credit: The Sun
 

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The Princess of Wales was in high spirits as she celebrated Holi alongside the communityCredit: Getty
Arriving in a cream jacket and matching dress, Kate was given a red flower garland necklace.

As the Holi festival necklace was placed over over neck, the Princess of Wales said “thank you” and gave a Namaste gesture with her hands.

Kate then joined in the fun and showed off her smooth moves as she tried her hand at traditional dancing.

Footage showed the Princess joining Bollywood dancers as she celebrated Holi with the community.

The Princess of Wales beamed as she clapped her hands and swayed in time with the music.

Kate earlier said: “Thank you so much for having me. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the work – I’ve heard some fantastic things.”

The Princess, who was barefoot, later said “oh go on then” as she was invited to take part in a religious ceremony Shreeji Dham Haveli temple, in Leicester.

Wearing a garland of flowers she also poured an offering of fresh milk to deity, Lord Krishna.

She began her trip to Leicester at The Aakash Odedra Company.

The organisation, founded in 2011, helps more than 1,000 people a week through its range of community dance programmes.

It was set up by Aakash Odedra, an award-winning choreography and dancer, with a mission to create “a happier and healthier society through dance and the arts”.

The dance company recently joined forces with the charity Move Against Cancer, offering Bollywood dance classes to those recovering from the disease.

Kate, 44, last year announced that she was in remission from cancer following a diagnosis in early 2024 and is now in remission.

She was shown some Bollywood dancing and given a separate solo performance by Birmingham-born Odedra.

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Princess Kate dances with Bollywood performers for HoliCredit: The Sun
 

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She was given a red flower garland necklace as arrived at The Aakash Odedra CompanyCredit: PA
 

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Kate bonded with people who have been marking Holi – the Indian festival of colours, love and springCredit: PA
 

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She visited Leicester to celebrate the culture, community and heritage of the British Indian community in the cityCredit: PA
He is trained in Bharatanatyam and Kathak dance styles and lived in India where he became a student of Shiamak Davar, a renowned Bollywood choreographer.

Odedra, who continues to perform across the world, showed the princess a rehearsal of his latest work, ‘Songs of the Bulbul’.

It is an interpretation of an ancient Sufi story about a captured songbird, or bulbul, which sings an exquisite tune before perishing from despair.

Dancers decorated Kate with flower petals and handed her a rose as she watched the performance.

And she gave a standing round of applause to the entertainment.

The show was created with choreographer Rani Khanam and composer Ranjan, the associate artist of the Royal Albert Hall.

Odedra combines Ranjan’s new score, played by a live orchestra from Manchester Camerata, and the voice of Abi Sampa and combines music, dance and the poetry traditions of Sufism.

Afterwards, Kate took a five minute walk down to local Sari shop Ladlees on the Golden Mile on the city’s Belgrave Road.

It is one of the streets in the UK with the highest concentration of shops and restaurants offering Indian jewellery, fashion and sweets.

She then crossed the road to try some chai in Bobby’s restaurant, a family-run business named after a 1973 Bollywood film.

Outside, hundreds of people gathered in the street without railings for an impromptu walkabout.

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Kate joined Bollywood performers, tasted chai and visited family businesses on Leicester’s ‘Golden Mile’Credit: PA
 

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Hundreds of people gathered in the street without railings for an impromptu walkaboutCredit: PA
It comes as Prince William was in Cornwall for a special visit as the Duchy marks St Piran’s Day –  which is widely adopted as Cornwall’s national day.

Wills also visited West Cornwall to “highlight community resilience and the hard work of those who responded during and after Storm Goretti”.

The first engagement saw him don an apron at Gear Farm Pasty Company, an award-winning family run organic farm and bakery famous for its award-winning Cornish pasties.

There, he put in a shift taking orders over the phone – and mistakenly thought he was speaking to a customer named “Juicy”.

Grabbing the phone, he took an order for ten frozen pasties and five fresh ones.

In a video, Wills is seen asking: “And what name is that? Juicy?”

Following laughter in the shop, smiling Wills then corrected himself: “Josie! Sorry Josie I thought you said juicy, my apologies.”

The Prince of Wales was quick on his feet though, adding: “The pasties are really juicy, you’re right. We’ve got 15 pasties for you. Five fresh and ten frozen.”

Speaking afterwards, Josie revealed she had not been aware she was speaking to a prince.

Instead, she had assumed she was dealing with a struggling new staff member.

She revealed: “I was flabbergasted when I found out.

“I had no idea who was answering my call but the person on the line was a bit incoherent.

“It’s St Piran’s Day and I was really worried I wasn’t going to get my pasties.”

Then, the Prince of Wales brought some of the baked pasties with him on a visit to emergency services at Helston Community Fire Station.

He spoke with firefighters and multi-agency responders who worked tirelessly during and after Storm Goretti.

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Prince William paid a visit to a pasty shop in Helston, Cornwall on St Piran’s DayCredit: Getty
 

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Wills made a gaffe when he misheard a customer’s name as ‘Juicy’Credit: Getty