Kate Middleton

Duchess of Cambridge enrolled in her local Brownies in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire, when she was eight years old Two decades later she became a volunteer leader in the Scout Association Prince today praised her work with the organisation and said she had helped 'swell the ranks' of Scout volunteers

By Charlie Lankston

PUBLISHED: 19:43 EST, 16 November 2013 | UPDATED: 09:10 EST, 17 November 2013

Prince Charles singled out for special praise his daughter-in-law's work with the Scouts.

The Duchess of Cambridge first became involved with the Scouting and Guiding movements when she enrolled in her local troop of Brownies in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire, at the age of eight.

More than two decades later, she became a volunteer leader in the Scout Association.

Writing in the MoS, the Prince says: 'I need hardly say that I am particularly delighted that my daughter-in-law has helped to swell the ranks of much-needed Scout volunteers, since enrolling many more adults as leaders is the greatest need for so many of our youth organisations.'

When the Duchess joined the group in January 2012, a spokesman for St James's Palace explained that she 'loved the idea of Scouting and working hands-on with children', and felt that the organisation was well-suited to her own love of the outdoors.

Her decision to join the Scouts, rather than the Guides, marked a change in times.

Once only for males, the Scouts now boast 66,000 female members and in 2011 recruited more girls than boys.

The Duchess's involvement in the Scout Association has prompted a huge increase in the number of adults signing up to help, with more than 2,800 volunteering since she joined.

Not content to be a figurehead, the Duchess has taken part in numerous Scouting activities.

In March, Kate, then five months pregnant, met a troop in the Lake District for a day of outdoor adventures, including baking bread on an open fire in the snow.

Just a few weeks later, she took part in a ceremony honouring the Scouts at Windsor Castle, where she was praised as 'an incredible role model' by adventurer and Chief Scout Bear Grylls.

I remember the difference it made being a volunteer myself

Prince Charles first experienced the satisfactions of volunteering during his schooldays at Gordonstoun.

Charles - who loathed his time at the austere Scottish boarding school - found consolation in throwing himself into extra-curricular activities such as the Sea Cadets. He also became a volunteer coastguard when he joined the school's surf-rescue unit.

The Prince, who still speaks fondly of his time in the cadets, proved himself to be adept and determined, according to his biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby.

In his second year at the school he was 'skilled enough to paddle from Hopeman Beach to Findhorn Bay - 12 miles in a direct line but almost double the distance allowing for wind and tide'.

It was during one of these adventurous outings that the most notorious incident of Charles' schooldays took place.

As a member of the four-man crew of the Pinta, one of the school's ketches, the 14-year old prince sailed into Stornoway harbour on the Isle of Lewis.

During shore leave, he walked into a bar and ordered a 'cherry brandy'. A journalist overheard him and the underage prince's misdemeanour became global news. After the furore, the headmaster demoted Charles within the cadets.

The Prince was also the victim of bullying during his schooldays at Gordonstoun.

And this may have shaped his campaign to stop teenagers drifting into street gangs.

Charles endured beatings, extortion, rifling through his personal belongings and ostracisation. Jonathan Dimbleby wrote: 'The Prince bore this thuggery with stoicism, apparently nurturing no enmity, though it reinforced his abhorrence of gangs.'