Prince William recently visited Devon, where he met an unexpected star of the day — a pig affectionately named “Ginger Spice” — before sampling freshly picked strawberries during the visit.
The Prince of Wales visited the Apricot Centre on the south coast this afternoon
The Prince of Wales sampled fresh strawberries and met a rather unusually named pig during his tour of a Devon regenerative farm on Thursday.
William visited the Apricot Centre, situated close to Totnes, where sustainable food production operates alongside educational and wellbeing initiatives rooted in the natural world.
The heir to the throne explored the 120-acre site, beginning at the packaging facility where staff were preparing lettuce and other fresh produce for customers, markets and local food banks.
Upon reaching the strawberry patch, the prince confessed he had been “eyeing up” the berries earlier before trying one himself.
He also met Ginger Spice, a large ginger pig with black spots, who resides alongside fellow swine named after the remaining Spice Girls.
The centre was established in 2015 by farmer Marina O’Connell and her husband Mark, a psychotherapist, who converted an abandoned dairy operation into an organic enterprise combining regenerative agriculture with therapeutic services.
Today, the farm has achieved carbon neutrality whilst boosting biodiversity by an impressive 400 per cent.
Its annual turnover now stands at £1.3million.
The Prince of Wales sampled fresh strawberries and met a rather unusually named pig during his tour of a Devon regenerative farm on Thursday
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The operation employs a range of sustainable techniques, including agroforestry, permaculture, rotational grazing and crop rotation to produce food without reliance on chemicals or artificial fertilisers.
Innovative methods continue to be trialled across the vegetable patches and flower meadows, with pig grazing among the newer approaches being tested.
The site also delivers nature-based therapies supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and farming communities.
Educational programmes form a central pillar of the centre’s mission, with courses developed on site offering chemical-free farming instruction funded partly by government and partly through philanthropy at no cost to students.
William met Ginger Spice, a large ginger pig with black spots, who resides alongside fellow swine named after the remaining Spice Girls
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Rachel Phillips, the managing director who guided the royal visit, explained the importance of early engagement with food production.
“We have young people that come out and see where their food grows,” she said. “Quite often they’ll come through and eat all the berries, or they’ll go through and they’ll eat the cucumbers, or they’ll go and pick courgettes and then they’ll come back into the training centre and they’ll make something out of that, and then they’ll eat it.”
She added: “You’ve got to create those opportunities to have positive experiences.”
William’s engagement with the farm underscored his commitment to environmental sustainability, reflecting the Duchy of Cornwall’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions across its entire estate by 2032.
Managing director Rachel Phillips (centre) guided the royal visit
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Throughout his tour, the prince posed questions to staff regarding how climate change and extreme weather events affect crop cultivation.
Student Madeleine Cocken, 33, from Totnes, spoke of learning biodynamic techniques unavailable through conventional agricultural education.
“I don’t want it to be something that’s a privilege,” she said. “I want us to think about what we can grow in our climate and know where the food comes from.”
The visit concluded at the wellbeing garden, which earned recognition at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 as an award-winning display for Bowel Research UK, featuring a gazebo and waterfall designed to help children connect with nature.
cre: https://www.gbnews.com/royal/prince-william-meets-pig-ginger-spice-strawberries-devon