It was just a short dash across town from the Martime Museum to the Dracaena Centre, which has been in operation since 2008 and supports around 10,000 people a year.

Manager Richard May led them into a room full of exuberant children and it wasn't long before Kate gamely took part in the hokey cokey, while her husband chatted to parents about how the centre has supported their children's development through play and creativity.

The Duchess of Cornwall then chatted to Shelley Hassall and Rosemary Ball, from Falmouth Toy Library. Shelley told CornwallLive: "Kate was really interested to hear that families are able to borrow toys they might not be able to afford for between 20p and £2. She was interested in hearing how we're now trying to avoid using plastic toys."

The couple then walked through an area used by a table tennis group. They weren't due to stop, but couldn't help themselves. Steve Simmons and Lesley Douce were playing table tennis as the royal couple walked through the building. Kate soon showed a competitive streak when she smashed a table tennis ball into her husband's face, which she celebrated with a thumbs up.

Steve, from Falmouth, said: "I'm getting shaky thinking about it now - it's very surreal to think we just played table tennis with the royal couple. William walked up and asked if we would like a game of doubles. We were chatting like we were just down the pub. I kept the ball going down the table and then Kate smashed it into William's face. It was lucky I didn't do that."

William asked about the club, which was formed just before Covid to introduce women to the sport of table tennis. Since then men have taken it up too. Steve's wife Jenny, who gave Kate St Piran's flags for her children, added: "I was surprised by how seriously Kate was taking it. She said next time she'd wear her trainers."

Lesley Douce, a retired NHS worker from Penryn, was Steve's table tennis partner when the royals joined in. She said: "They just came up to the table and asked to play a game of doubles with us. They were so friendly. Kate was every bit as good as I thought she'd be. Playing with them was mindblowing."

The royal couple then had a round table meeting with representatives from and clients of the St Petrocs homeless charity. They sat fascinated as chief executive Henry Meacock explained the ways the charity helps Cornwall's homeless. He said: "They both demonstrated a deep knowledge of homelessness. They're very genuine and have a keen interest."

The royal couple sat with Henry, other St Petrocs staff, and two people who have benefited from the charity's help. Tanya Shrigley, 31, and Luke Chapman, 33, were both housed by St Petrocs when they found themselves homeless for different reasons. As a result of working with St Petrocs, Luke is now an ambassador for the charity's vocational development programme, which helped him get a job and his own flat.

He met Tanya at St Petrocs and they are now a couple. Tanya has taken courses in business and book-keeping thanks to the programme and is currently living in St Petrocs accommodation in Pool. When William asked what were the main reasons for homelessness in Cornwall, the couple both replied "second homes and Airbnb". William replied he had got that feeling from talking to other people during the visit and added that Airbnb had "come out of nowhere".

Luke said: "They asked us about our experiences of being homeless and were genuinely interested." Tanya added: "You could tell they'd done their research and that shows how much they care."

The Duke and Duchess then met members of the centre's NHS Wellbeing Hub hosted in the centre and heard from GP lead Mark Morris how they are providing community-based mental health and wellbeing support to 800 people in the area.

William was visibly excited to see that the Shout mental health crisis line, which he had helped set up, was being advertised in the centre.

As the couple left they stopped to chat to a crowd of about 40 people. The Duke asked Stephanie Toomey if she was local. "Yes I am, in fact, I live in that house over there," she told him, pointing to the other side of Dracaena Avenue. When she realised the royal couple were at the centre, she ran over still holding her tea towel, which her husband put in his pocket as she chatted to the prince.

William told the crowd as they left: "We love coming to Cornwall, it's fantastic. We have days like this and then days that are under the radar."

You can read our live blog of events yesterday here: Duke and Duchess lit up Cornwall today with their first visit since accession to county titles.

You can also see our live streams of the royal's arrival on our Facebook page: Falmouth Nub News