William and Kate: The First Year Page #3

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they were going to get,

whether it would be one of

anticipation, apprehension...

Would they fill the Queen's boots as

well as people might have hoped?

But there was no need to worry.

Canada went crazy for Kate

this evening.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

arrived in Ottawa

and big crowds turned out

to see them.

Kaboom! Look up. What do you see?

Rows and rows and rows of cameras,

people shouting, 'Kate, Kate,

look this way, look that way.'

People had driven overnight to

secure a good spot.

They got there at 3:30

in the morning

to make sure they were at the front

of the guardrails

so that they might get a photograph.

William and Kate did everything they

could to see, touch, do a picture,

with as many people as humanly

possible.

With so many people desperate for a

piece of William and Catherine,

it fell to one man to keep

the royal show on the road.

On paper, my job was to be there at

the right place at the right time.

There are so many people involved.

Everything has to be planned

to the minute.

On site, when the Duke

and Duchess are there,

they can meet someone who knows

exactly what's going on

and where people are supposed to go.

I'm sorry. I've got to go.

I've got to go.

It was Jean's job to keep the

couple on schedule,

but he soon found out just who was

in control.

At one point,

we were 15 minutes later,

so I went up to the Duke and said,

'I'm sorry, but we have to go now.'

I totally remember.

He turned towards me and said,

'Jean, this is my first contact

with Canadians,

I want to take my time.'

I said, 'Yes, sir.' I backed off.

Since then I say, 'I know what the

tour is all about now.'

Kicking off their nine-day trip

in Ottawa...

It will improve as we go on.

the Duke and Duchess hit the road

with a tour like no other.

Making Inuit speeches...

That means, 'Thank you.'

street hockey...

and even Stetsons.

I think what they said

to the Canadians

is, 'Look at us. We're not like

royalty you've seen before.'

That is amazing.

They are totally in touch with not

being stuffy.

Every day, there seemed to be

something different.

It was canoes, or it was cooking

with kids.

They just embraced everything.

By day five, the newlyweds reached

Prince Edward Island

and William took the controls

of a Sea King helicopter

for some extracurricular training.

Landing a helicopter on water,

or water birding, as it's known,

is a skill unique

to the Canadian air force

and the Duke quickly picked up this

new trick.

As he's coming around and the

helicopter's coming to land,

I said, 'This is not looking good.'

We were just joking. You could see

the Duchess looking at us,

'What do you guys mean

it is not good?'

So we had good fun on the side

of the lake.

Having impressed everyone with his

piloting skills...

the Duke and Duchess took to the

waves for a dragon boat race.

I was walking down to the pontoon

where they were doing the race,

when I suddenly heard someone say,

'Arthur!' And there she was.

I said, 'William says

he's going to win,'

and she said, 'In his dreams.'

Both William and Catherine

are very competitive

so I think for both of them

it was game on.

Kate was steering originally

as we went up the lake

but it was a very windy, tricky day,

and so when we got to the top

of the lake,

I think she'd had her fill

of steering.

When I asked her if she would like

to steer or paddle,

she chose the paddling

for the second half.

I stood up to switch positions and

then I was faced with a dilemma.

I was looking eye to eye

with the Duchess

and I didn't know if I could touch,

what I could touch.

It ended up looking like I was

playing Twister with her

because I was doing everything

humanly possible

within a 24 inch wide boat

not to touch as we shuffled

and changed positions.

We were side-by-side.

He was talking trash

to the Princess,

bragging that he was going to beat

her and that sort of thing.

He was paddling very hard.

He was yelling,

'They are gaining. Let's go!'

That kind of thing.

She knew how to pilot.

She got a little splashed.

It didn't affect her at all. She was

paddling wonderfully the whole way.

William's boat won the little race

that we had,

and certainly, at the end

of the race,

he was very pleased

to have been victorious.

One of our guys actually

said to him,

'Your Royal Highness, is this going

to get you in trouble at home?'

And he said,

'There is no chivalry in sport.'

What we saw with Catherine and

William at the dragon boat race

were two young people who really get

a kick out of each other.

She had that lovely little moment

on the dock,

after they got off the boat, where

she pretended to push him in,

and then they held onto each other.

It was just... It was lovely.

We don't often get to see royal

public displays of affection

and we were really witnessing a

moment there between the two of them

that clearly illustrated how in

love they are.

They are always touching each other.

The fact there is a passion there,

there is a chemistry there,

is very clear.

You know, they smile at each other,

they flirt with each other.

It is really cute to watch.

And they're very sexy.

Nine days and 8,000 miles later,

the newlyweds had wooed Canada.

I think the trip to Canada was the

most incredible success.

I happened to say to somebody,

'I think it's quite fantastic

how she has taken to this like a

duck to water.'

Then somebody said,

'We knew it will be all right

because of the way she reacted to

the wedding.

She was so calm about the wedding.

She listened and she knew what she

had to do.'

And so they were not astonished

like me

that somebody could get it

so right the first time.

The hottest couple in the world

had conquered Canada,

but could they shine in Hollywood?

The bright lights of Tinseltown

beckoned.

This was them coming to Lala land,

and they laid on everything.

All the A-list celebrities turned

out to pay homage to them.

With only three days to tour LA,

their schedule was jampacked.

With everything from painting...

to a charity polo match,

and as a winner, the Prince

was rewarded with a kiss.

There's a star-studded night ahead,

a BAFTA reception, and big names.

Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks,

Jennifer Lopez...

No doubt, though, who the real stars

are going to be.

I don't think it was until I got to

the end of the red carpet,

as the Duke and Duchess were about

to arrive,

that I suddenly realised what a big

event this was.

I walked up the red carpet talking

to them

about the other things they'd been

doing on the tour,

and before we knew it, we were

at the first lineup.

I felt my role that night was to

look after William and Kate.

So many people wanted to meet them.

We only had so much time.

You'll probably see me in the

background

hovering around looking a bit tense.

It was very interesting

watching everybody

because even Barbara Streisand,

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