The Prince of Wales mistakenly called a woman “juicy” as he helped take orders at a local farm shop in Cornwall this afternoon. William, who is also known as the Duke of Cornwall, helped serve customers at Gear Farm Pasty Company, near Helston, and even took an order over the phone.

While chatting with the woman and seeking answers to her questions from staff, the prince placed an order for five fresh and 10 frozen pasties. However, he appeared confused by the response she gave when he asked for her name. “Juicy?” he asked, prompting laughter from those gathered inside the shop.

Smiling, he said: “Oh, Josie! Sorry Josie, I thought you said juicy, my apologies.” The customer, who wasn’t aware she was speaking to the future king, then attempted to calm his nerves, as William repeated back to her: “The pasties will be juicy, you’re right.”

Josie Trounson, who lives a 20-minute drive from the farm, didn’t find out it was William who had taken her order until she arrived to collect her pasties. She was unable to meet the prince because he had already left to meet fire and rescue staff at Helston community fire station.

“I was flabbergasted when I found out,” Trounson said. “I had no idea who was answering my call but the person on the line was a bit incoherent. It’s St Piran’s Day and I was really worried I wasn’t going to get my pasties.”

She added that she will be telling this story for years to come.

Earlier, William tried his hand at pasty-making and found hand-crimping particularly tricky.

“This is not my finest hour,” he said, as he struggled to fold the pastry. “This is where I need my wife. She would be all over this. It’s really not easy.” William took the pasties he had made home to his family.

He also met Vasyl Lohvinova, 42, a Ukrainian farmer and refugee who now works on the Gear Farm growing vegetables for their pasties.

“We are thinking about you all, all of the time,” William told him and his wife Nadia, 38, and nine-year-old daughter Lyuba. “We hope and pray [the war in Ukraine] comes to an end soon.”

The royal visit came on St Piran’s Day, the county’s national day, and William heard how the community had come together during and after Storm Goretti on January 8, one of the most severe storms to hit Cornwall in recent years.

Winds of up to 123 mph left around 50,000 homes without power, 15,000 without water, and major highways and rural routes were blocked by thousands of fallen trees.

Emergency services and local volunteers worked around the clock to clear debris, restore essential services and protect isolated or vulnerable residents.

William brought a box of 50 warm pasties from the farm to the fire station, as a belated thank you for the efforts during the storm. The fire team were delighted by the gift.