Prince and Princess of Wales to visit a Jewellery Quarter bar on visit to Birmingham - and play darts

Birmingham is set to welcome the Prince and Princess of Wales who are due to visit the city to meet leaders in the creative and arts industries on Thursday (April 20).

It has been announced that the Royal couple will meet with artists, designers and playwrights at The Rectory on St Paul’s Square in the Jewellery Quarter where they will hear about how the creative industries sector is growing in the West Midlands.

Prince William, who is an avid Aston Villa fan, and Kate are also due to play a game of darts downstairs at the bar and restaurant in its 180 Club, before meeting the public outside.

Kate, 41, and William, 40, are no strangers to a public head-to-head as they have faced off against each other during royal engagements in the past. In February, the Princess of Wales showed up her husband on a visit to a fitness centre in Port Talbot, Wales, when she beat him in a racing contest during a spin class.

After the 45-second race - in which the mother-of-three even asked if she could turn the bike’s resistance up and ‘make it harder’ - a shocked princess was declared the winner of the ‘Tour de Aberavon’ and handed a small trophy.

More than 40% of jewellery made in the UK is produced in the Jewellery Quarter, which is also a thriving hub for the creative sector. The Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit will be the couple’s first after taking some time out from royal engagements during the Easter holidays.

While Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven and Prince Louis were off school for the half term break, the family enjoyed some quality time together. The royals made an appearance at St George’s Chapel in Windsor for the Easter Sunday service, where Prince Louis made his first appearance at the event.

The visit comes weeks ahead of King Charles III coronation in London, which is also being celebrated across Birmingham with a big screen and entertainment announced for Centenary Square and applications open for residents to host local street parties, with the deadline to apply for a permit on Friday (April 21).