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Princess Diana loved taking a dip in the sea… and it seems her children share her passion.
Last month video footage emerged of Prince Harry showing off his surfing skills in California.
And Prince William also enjoyed surfing in the cold waters of St Andrews, Scotland, when he was at university.
The late Princess of Wales entertained her separation from Charles in 1993 on the sandy beaches of Nevis in the Caribbean.
He took William and Harry, then aged eighteen, bodyboarding and their friend Catherine Soames joined them.
Princess Diana enjoying the waves at Indian Castle Beach in Nevis with William and Harry in 1993
Prince Harry expertly riding a wave at a surf ranch in California. The footage surfaced last month.
Diana, holding a bright pink board, was seen standing among the breaking waves and attempting to ride them.
In another shot, Harry is seen grabbing the bodyboard as his mother walks through the water towards him.
“When she started windsurfing, Diana, dressed in a black one-piece suit, kept falling off her board due to the strong wind,” the Daily Mail reported at the time.
“When she started windsurfing, Diana, in a black swimsuit, kept falling off her board in the strong wind.”
Later, William and Harry played cricket on the beach. “They used the broken spokes of an umbrella as a wicket and took turns batting while their detectives bowled.”
During the same holiday, the Mail described how he “splashes around in the thundering waves of the Caribbean without a care in the world.”
The photographs made the front pages of the UK and when Diana returned home, she said: “It was the best holiday I’ve ever had.”
The late Princess of Wales walking through the waves towards Harry, who is holding a board.
Diana enjoying the sea spray while on vacation with her two children in January 1993.
Princess tries to catch a wave on her bright pink board in Nevis
prince harry
Prince Harry recently followed in his mother’s footsteps and was seen in pictures last month expertly surfing at Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California.
Professional surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer posted a video of Harry riding the waves.
Captioning the post, Van Bastolaer, famous among the surfing community for his big wave exploits, said; ‘In Tahiti we still call you Prince Harry. But at Surf Ranch, he’s my brother. It was an honor to have you surf with me and Kelly Slater.
Harry begins riding alongside Van Bastolaer’s jet ski and pulls away as the wave begins to appear, before expertly jumping onto the surfboard.
The Duke of Sussex finds his balance and, under Van Bastolaer’s instructions, deftly negotiates the rising wave for almost a minute.
Prince Harry catching a wave at a Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California
A video of the royal was captured and posted on social media by professional surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer.
Prince William
A decade after his mother’s surfing vacation, William hit the waves again… but not on a Caribbean island.
On the much colder shores of St Andrews, Scotland, the 22-year-old prince surfed with his friends in 2004.
He was in his final year at St Andrews and, according to bbcHe said at the time: “It was a bit like sticking your head in a freezer when you went underwater, but the wetsuit I have is pretty good.”
‘I couldn’t feel my hands for about half an hour. After a while they become very sleepy.
He added: “There is no noise. It’s just you breathing. With fish you are in a different world.
William’s affinity for the water continued over the years and he even went surfing at his stag do in Devon in 2011.
He reportedly stayed at the family home of his friend George Stucley, and other guests included his Eton friend James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee, with whom he attended Ludgrove Preparatory School.
Jordan Clark, a 17-year-old student at the time, saw William surfing and said, “At first I didn’t realize who he was, but then George Stucley came up to me and said, ‘Can you be careful with these guys?’ ? Since they really don’t know what they’re doing?”
‘I looked and realized it was William. They weren’t very good. They were just splashing around and laughing.’
Prince William, 22, walking along St Andrews beach with two friends in 2004.
William riding a wave during his final year of university in Scotland
Prince Charles
Charles is even known to catch the waves, and the first known images of the monarch surfing were captured in 1973.
They show the young prince at Constantine Bay, strolling along the Cornish beach, holding a surfboard.
Dressed in a long wetsuit, the royal looked like any other surfer and later became a patron of the British Surfing Association.
He also hosted the British surfing team at Buckingham Palace before they competed at the World Championships in South Africa in 1978.