Prince William shares daredevil George's favourite hobby weeks after prince flew plane

The Prince of Wales was visiting a community swimming pool in Birtley, north-east England, on Thursday and speaking to Olympic and Paralympic swimmers when he made Prince George's revelation

Prince William has revealed his daredevil eldest son George has a new favourite hobby - scuba diving, during a community swimming pool visit.

The Prince of Wales visited a pool in Birtley, north-east England, on Thursday and was speaking to Olympic and Paralympic swimmers, while highlighting the Royal Foundation’s new work to boost access to swimming. The pool was closed due to council budget cuts but reopened last month after fundraising £400,000 from crowdfunding, the government and Sports England - as well as an undisclosed donation from the Royal Foundation.

He then went inside the pool to meet Paris 2024 Olympians Adam Peaty - who tested positive for Covid during the games - as well as Tom Dean and Paralympians Maisie Summers-Newton and Louise Fiddes, who showcased their medals.

Wiliam mentioned his eldest child Prince George, 11, and his love scuba diving. He said: "Catherine and I both adore swimming. George loves scuba diving. He was 10 years old, we took him under, thinking he’d freak out, but he absolutely loved it. It’s just introduced him to the world of water."

Tom asked the Prince: “Did you manage to get out there [to Paris]?” But William, looking at Peaty, responded: “No I was so keen to come but I have to say after reading someone’s interview about Covid, I decided, because my wife was obviously having chemo, that I didn’t want to risk bringing Covid home, so Adam very kindly reminded me that that was still a thing! But we watched the whole thing. We were glued to it every day.”

A Mirror probe this year examined the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, finding 1,000 local council football pitches and sports fields had been lost since 2010 under the Tories. Between 2012 and 2016, 600 youth centres closed, 3,500 youth workers also lost their jobs and 140,000 youth service places were cut, according to local government figures.

Olympic legend Peaty backed our call to protect swimming pools and leisure facilities across the UK. England has lost almost 400 swimming pools since 2010, with parts of the country that have the greatest health needs losing out the most, including Birtley.

The national body for swimming Sport England said there was “an urgent need to invest” in England’s pools, after new figures revealed that the pandemic had accelerated a decade of decline in aquatic facilities. Gateshead has been one of the towns hardest hit by Tory budget cuts. Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swim Centre were closed in July 2023, with the council blaming 'Government cuts to budgets are resulting in cuts to funding across all Council services'.

The future of the world famous Gateshead International Stadium is under threat due to the cost of upkeep of the facilities, and is almost certain to close unless new investment can be found. Great North Run legend Sir Brendan Foster, 76, said: "It is sad news that Gateshead is under threat, but that is the modern era. It has been a victim of Government cutbacks in financing of local government."