Prince William tried his hand at printing and even stroked a pet alpaca as he visited the appropriately named Princetown today to launch a new regeneration fund to save the isolated Dartmoor community.

The Prince of Wales has committed £250,000, which will be made available for grants for projects delivering social, economic and environmental benefit to the town and the people in it.

This forms part of a £1.5million package pledged earlier this year, reinvesting the rent from former Dartmoor Prison in the town itself.

There was widespread public outrage when it emerged that the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate which funds William as Prince of Wales, was benefitting from the annual £1.5 million rent generated by Dartmoor Prison, which has stood empty since 2024.

High levels of radiation found in prisoners' accommodation forced its closure, which proved a disaster for the economy of the local community, with jobs and businesses suffering.

It later emerged that the Duchy of Cornwall signed a £37 million agreement in 2022 to lease the building to the Ministry of Justice, generating rental income of £1.5 million a year over 25 years.

When alerted to this William is said to have felt strongly that the income the duchy was receiving should be invested locally instead.

The royal's visit today comes as Prince Harry celebrates his 42nd birthday with Meghan and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, after returning to the UK from California.

To mark his birthday, Meghan Markle shared nine family photographs of the prince with her and their children to her Instagram account with the caption: 'He's simply the best. Happy birthday, my love', along with a heart emoji.

The pictures show Harry on outdoor adventures with Meghan, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, as well as their labrador Pula. He is seen kissing Lilibet in one and carrying her bicycle in another.

The Duke of Sussex is also shown driving a quad bike down a track with Lilibet and Archie in the back, sat either side of a Marks & Spencer bag as their dog follows behind.

The montage is accompanied by an excerpt from indie folk duo The Hound and The Fox's song 'Simply the Best', a cover of the Tina Turner classic.

Meghan also posted a video on her Instagram Stories later in the day of Harry in a car to the soundtrack of Noah Kahan's Stick Season.

It comes as the Sussexes were revealed to have already moved Archie and Lilibet to a new school after the family relocated from the US on August 26.

The children had only just started classes in England, but they will now join another school after the lengthy journey was said to have caused issues for the security team.

For William, however, it was business as usual as the Prince of Wales visited the newly opened Gather & Moor, a visitor centre and cafe in the heart of the town and met local artists who will showcase and sell their wares in the space.

He took part in a manual printing exercise, using natural inks and colours from the Moor itself.

He said: 'It's looking pretty good.

'Are you seeing good footfall coming in, being really busy?

'Has the weather been, same sunshine as the rest of the country?

'There does tend to be that patch of fog around here.'

Emma Hogbin and Jon Palmer, of Princetown Press, showed William how to use botanic ink from the local area to create a poster marking his trip. 

William brushed ink onto the letters and pulled a roller over the sheet of paper to make the memento. 'Fantastic,' he said.

Speaking to local businesses and organisers including Nora Corkery, CEO, Devon Communities Together and Pete Vallance, Duchy's incoming Princetown Regeneration Manager, about regenerating the area, he asked: 'How high is ambition? I will be intrigued to see what ideas come out.'

He spoke about the 'economic impact of losing Dartmoor Prison' and 'seeing the effect' on local communities.

The local leaders explained how the communities 'under threat' as people needed access to local services as lacking in access to jobs and transport.

He added: 'Keep in touch. I want to see where the ambition goes.

'It's not about me coming telling you what to do you tell me what you want to do.'

The Duke then headed to the Princetown Youth Club.

Following a previous private visit in 2025, William spotted the roof was in disrepair and asked the Duchy to support in fixing it.

While at the Youth Club, he met local children and heard more about the workshop and activity taking place within the newly renovated building.

The Duchy has spent £50k on the building, an example of the type of project that will be carried out within the £1.5m investment.

Speaking to the youngsters, he said: 'Is it better now there's no hole in the roof?'

The children shouted out 'yes'.

Afterwards Emma Byron, youth club chair, said when William last visited she told him they could not afford the repairs.

She added: 'He said 'not on my watch' and it isn't.

'We've still got so much to do to keep the funding going.

'Funding is really difficult. Princetown is a town of deprivation for a lot of children and isolation as don't get the same opportunities as places nearby like Plymouth.'

He also met locals and businesses in the street as he walked from Gather & Moor to the youth club, where he met alpacas Treacle and Noodle.

'Thank you so much for coming back to the village,' their owner said.

'They look well looked after,' their prince replied.

One local said to William: 'I think Princetown is busy as ever now, things change, the early days, no one wanted to live here - everything is changing. People want to be here.'

Business owner Nikki said: 'I'm feeling really positive now about the town, it feels like we're shouting about what's here now. I think what you're doing is amazing.'

William replied: 'I feel like this provides a lot more interest, it's crucial we support this community. Good luck with the business.'

Princetown dates back to the 1700s and was named after the then Prince of Wales.