Prince George has picked up a new hobby - and he's 'just like his dad'

Prince William has shared that his eldest son, Prince George, 11, has taken up a new hobby in recent years - and it seems he's following in his father's footsteps

Prince George has developed a new interest over the past few years, his father Prince William disclosed on Thursday. The Duke of Cambridge was visiting a community swimming pool in Birtley, north-east England to promote the Royal Foundation's latest initiative to increase access to swimming.

He spoke warmly about his family and their enjoyment of watching the Olympics. Specifically, William mentioned his eldest son George, 11, and his passion for 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."

Royal enthusiasts were thrilled to hear about George's new hobby, which he clearly inherited from his scuba-diving parents. In 2022, both William and Kate had a day of scuba diving in Belize during a Royal visit.

A video shared on the social media channel of the Prince and Princess of Wales showed the couple scuba diving surrounded by marine life, including a small shark, after jumping off a boat. In the footage, the couple swim side by side as they take in the barrier reef around them, reports the Express.

Kate was also seen making a 'chef's kiss' hand gesture to William which is said to mean perfect. At the time, William and Kate wrote on Instagram: "On Sunday, we were lucky enough to spend time diving at South Water Caye, directly above the spectacular Belize Barrier Reef."

"It was a privilege to see for ourselves the world-leading ocean conservation work being done here."

Prince George is not believed to have joined his parents on this trip, but it's reported that he went scuba diving with the family a year later. His father did not reveal any further details about this.

It's thought that Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, did not participate in the scuba diving with their older brother. At the Royal engagement on Thursday, William participated in discussions emphasising the importance of swimming and the need to keep community pools open.

He stated: "We've heard stories up and down the countries of pools closing down, so we thought: 'no, we want to be able to stop this'. We want to replicate this [Birtley's pool re-opening] across the country because swimming is such an important part of life. We're an island nation, we should all have access to learn how to swim."