The Princess of Wales visited a woollen mill and jeans manufacturer in Wales today in a head-turning orange coat – and gave an update about a new addition to the family at their Forest Lodge home

The Princess of Wales revealed there’s a new addition to the Wales family as she learned about luxurious fabrics at a Welsh woollen mill today. Kate stepped out in a vintage Welsh wool coat for her visit to Melin Tregwynt, which produces blankets and throws from a remote part of Pembrokeshire.

The future queen was shown the whole production process, from the weaving of the woollen cloth to the finishing details added to the fabrics. She also visited Hiut Denim, a family-owned company based in Cardigan, designing and manufacturing premium jeans entirely in the UK.

As she chatted to staff there, the owner’s dog Barney ran around her feet, with Kate giving it a gentle pat as she talked about her own pets, revealing the family now has an eight-month-old puppy alongside their older dog Orla.

She told them: “So we’ve got a little puppy. He’s only eight months and Orla is five.” Black cocker spaniel Orla – gifted to the family by Kate’s brother James Middleton in 2020 – gave birth to four puppies back in May, so the new family dog seems likely to be one of those.

Meanwhile, at Melin Tregwynt, Kate was offered the chance in the quality control department to help repair a broken thread in a roll of fabric, she bent over the reversible cloth, guided by staff member Paula Harding, and said: “You have to have really good eyesight and patience.”

Kate completed a small 2in repair and Ms Harding said later: “She did it right, it’s amazing, and she didn’t go through the other side, that’s skill – she’s got the skill.”

After being told Ms Harding was the third generation of her family to work at Melin Tregwynt, based near Fishguard, the princess said: “That’s what’s wonderful about these family businesses, they’re so based on these families and intergenerations passing on these techniques.”

When she visited the workshop, where staff used sewing machines to stitch edges to the cloths, one of the final processes, Kate confessed: “I was trying some sewing at Christmas time – I was very slow.”

The future queen has a keen interest in fabrics and textiles and has visited a number of weaving mills and manufacturers over the past 12 months.

She toured a tartan-weaving studio in Stirling in January and last year visited textile makers in Carmarthenshire, Suffolk, Kent and Co Tyrone, and looked at a William Morris fabric sample book during a visit to the V&A East Storehouse in Stratford, east London.