The Prince of Wales was missing his wife as he visited a Cornish pasty shop in Helston in honour of St Piran’s Day yesterday.

The Duke of Cornwall, as he is known in the West of England, was a good sport as he joined employees of Gear Farm Pasty Company in the kitchen – and even helped out by taking phone orders.

William, 43, tried his hand at pasty-making but found the crimping particularly tricky- as the future King joked about his limited culinary skills in a video from yesterday’s outing.

In the clip on X/Twitter, William does his best to replicate the Gear Farm employee’s technique as she shows him how to pinch the pastry to wrap the beef and potatoes securely before crimping the folded edges.

‘It’s a lot harder than it looks!’ William said, before adding: ‘Feels like I might be taking this one home, guys.’

While staff encouraged him, William admitted ‘this is not my finest hour’ and that ‘this is where I need my wife’, adding that the Princess of Wales ‘would be all over this’.

By the time he was done, the pasty looked like ‘a funny little crab’ as William said: ‘Not sure this is going to be sellable,’ he quipped.

William and Kate, 44, carried out separate engagements yesterday as the future Queen travelled to Leicester to mark the Hindu festival of colour, Holi.

The Prince of Wales was missing his wife as he visited a Cornish pasty shop in Helston in honour of St Piran’s Day yesterday

William, 43, tried his hand at pasty-making but found the crimping particularly tricky -as the future King joked about his limited culinary skills in a video from yesterday’s outing

One of Gear Farm’s regulars was also ‘delighted’ to discover Prince William had taken her pasty order over the phone earlier in the day. 

William was serving customers when he answered the phone at the family-run bakery and asked if he could take an order.  

The clip showed William looking puzzled asking what name he should put on the order for five fresh and 10 frozen pasties, repeating back to the caller: ‘Juicy?’

After she reassured him and repeated her name, the prince said: ‘The pasties will be juicy, you’re right.’

The woman was due to collect the pasties at 1.45pm, after William and his entourage had left to meet fire and rescue members at nearby Helston community fire station, and was told when she arrived who had been speaking to.

Apparently, she was ‘delighted’ and said she had been ‘quite concerned’ when he misheard her name that she might not get her special order of pasties on St Piran’s Day, the patron saint of Cornwall.

The Gear Farm team gave her the 15 pasties free as a thank you for being such a good sport.

A source said: ‘She said she’ll be telling this story for years.’

The lady later spoke to reporters, identifying herself as Josie Trounson, who lives a 20-minute drive from the farm.

‘I was flabbergasted when I found out,’ she said. ‘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.’

One of Gear Farm’s regulars was also ‘delighted’ to discover Prince William had taken her pasty order over the phone that morning

The lady later spoke to reporters, identifying herself as Josie Trounson, who lives a 20-minute drive from the farm

William’s trip to Cornwall came on St Piran’s Day, the county’s national day, and William heard how the community had come together during and after Storm Goretti on January 8, one of the most severe storms to hit Cornwall in recent years.

Winds of up to 123 mph left around 50,000 homes without power, 15,000 without water, and major highways and rural routes were blocked by thousands of fallen trees.

Emergency services and local volunteers worked around the clock to clear debris, restore essential services and protect isolated or vulnerable residents.

One local man in Helston was killed when a tree fell onto his caravan during the evening.

William was told by Helston’s on‑call fire and rescue team about the struggle to remove the 20-tonne tree from the caravan.

‘We did everything we could, but we couldn’t safely get to him,’ one firefighter said.

‘We returned the next day and it took 12 firefighters and three tree surgeons to get to him. It was not a nice thing.’

William told them: ‘Well done guys, good job and hopefully spring is here now.’

Katherine Billing, chief fire officer for Cornwall Fire Service, told him: ‘Then it’s wildfire season, and you’ll be back again!’

William took with him a large box of warm pasties from his earlier visit to share with the crews.

Gear Farm had hoped to share some with them during Storm Goretti but had been blocked by trees on the road.