Relaxed royals chat with families of coastguard SAR and air ambulance crew and staff

The Duchess of Cambridge asked one bystander Tara Kitchener from Colwyn Bay what her link to the base was.

Tara replied, pointing to SAR chief air crew member Kev Weller: "You see that bald headed man over there, that is my uncle.

The Duchess replied, "No! You see the bald headed man over, there is my husband!" To gales of laughter.

The Duke also chatted with Paul Jones, SAR winch-man, who he had trained with at RAF Valley.

He also met his wife Gemma, and their two children Finlay (12) and Alex (9).

William asked the children if they would like to be helicopter crew someday?

Finlay replied that he wanted to be a pilot. The Duke chuckled as Paul quipped, I really do need to convert him to be a winch-man."

The Duchess chatted with Wales Air Ambulance critical care practitioner John Adams, of Bangor, and his wife Marie, children Henry, 6, Oscar, 7 and Emilia, 1.

The Duchess took great interest in the children, and told them how much she loved visiting the Bangor and Anglesey, area saying it was a "wonderful area for families, especially with so much to see and do and all the lovely beaches."

William and Kate spent around 90 minutes at helicopter base before shaking hands and saying goodbyes as they travelled to their next stop on the royal visit at Halen Mon Anglesey Sea Salt, a local business on Anglesey.

The royal couple completed their visit to North Wales by joining schoolchildren in a beach clean-up organised by the Isle of Anglesey County Council and marine conservation group Surfers Against Sewage.

The group aims to reduce the impact of single-use plastics, such as straws, bottles, sachets and balloons, through its Plastic Free Anglesey campaign.

Before they embarked on the litter pick at Newborough Beach with pupils from Ysgol Santes Dwynwen, Sian Sykes, of Surfers Against Sewage, told them: "This is some stuff that we have collected. These are cotton buds that have been flushed down the toilet, and these take 150 years to break down.

"What we want you guys to do today is rummage through the seaweed because with the incoming tide it brings up some plastic."

The duke asked: "Have you done testing for microplastics here?"

Ms Sykes replied: "This is a tiny bit of the microplastics we have been finding which is quite frightening to see, but the Bangor University has been getting involved in a lot of research which is great."

The royal couple then crouched down with the pupils to uncover plastics which were noted down as part of a survey.

Wet wipes, balloons, flip flops and fishing lines were among the finds as Kate asked George Boyce, 10, if he watched Sir David Attenborough.

Kate said: "He's amazing, isn't he. Which programmes do you like of his?"

The youngster replied: "Blue Planet."

Ms Sykes said it was "wonderful" that the royal couple had returned to the area.

She said: "We want to inspire people who come to visit Anglesey.

"What I would ask people is to bring reusable bottles, bring reusable coffee cups, help out with beach cleans and boycott single use plastics."

The duke and duchess also explored the beach's wildlife habitat with the Menai Bridge Scout Group.

Kate, who previously volunteered with the Scouts during her time in Anglesey, told the group how the couple used to collect mussels when they lived there.

William asked the group: "What's the coolest thing you have found out on the beach?"

Finlay Burke, 12, replied: "A bullet."

A surprised Kate said: "Really? Where did you find that?"

Finlay said: "In the water."