Princess Kate bumps into former teacher at royal engagement

Princess Kate was surprised by her former history teacher while on a royal visit to Cornwall, England, this week.

Kate and her husband Prince William made their first official joint visit to Cornwall Thursday since becoming the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year.

While greeting crowds outside The National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Kate bumped into a former teacher, Jim Embury, whom she greeted with a big hug.

Embury taught history to Kate and her classmates in prep school, and is now a volunteer at the museum, according to the local newspaper, Cornwall Live.

"The things you taught me, I now teach to my children," Kate said, according to the newspaper, referring to her three children with William, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.

Kate seemed to instantly recognize Embury, and asked whether he now lives in Cornwall.

Kate spent much of her childhood in Bucklebury, England, more than 200 miles away from Cornwall.

Embury described Kate as a "fantastic student," adding, "It was a great class," according to Cornwall Live.

Kate's surprise encounter with Embury is not the first time she's bumped into a former teacher while on a royal engagement.

In 2020, Kate had a surprise reunion with two of her former teachers outside of an ice cream shop she and William visited in Mumbles, Wales.

The teachers, identified by U.K. media outlets as Denise Evans-Alford and Kevin Alford, taught Kate when she attended St. Andrew's, a prep school in Pangbourne, Berkshire.