Britain's LOVELY Duchess goes camping for charity

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, didn't mind getting her hands -- or boots -- dirty when she joined schoolchildren on a camping trip on Monday.

Kate visited an Expanding Horizons primary school scheme at the Widehorizons Margaret McMillan House in Kent, the Telegraph reported.

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The scheme is coordinated by ARK Schools, which gives children from inner-city backgrounds the opportunity to venture into the countryside and develop their confidence and teamwork skills, reported Herald Sun.

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The children Kate met came from the King Solomon Academy Primary School, which is based in North Westminster, London. An area of high deprivation, more than 70 per cent of children under 15 in the area live in a jobless household.

For many of the children it was the first time they had seen the countryside or been away from home, reported the Herald Sun.

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On their three-day residential course, the children had learnt to sleep in tipi tents and take part in team-building activities including rope challenges, obstacle courses, campfire building and outdoor cooking, reported the Herald Sun.

Two of the youngsters showed the Duchess around their tipi. Zahid Shanvere, 8, made Kate roar with laughter as he held open the tent flap for her and said, "After you."

"What a gentleman," she replied.

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She gamely crawled inside one of the shelters, sitting down in the dirt with the youngsters.

Some of the children asked her about her job and she replied, "It's very busy and great fun but I am very well looked after."

Another asked her how long she would sit on the throne to which Kate said tactfully, "It's not actually my job yet," the Herald Sun reported.

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