'I'm going to go whee and fly the way up': Wills and Kate are royal high-nesses as they forget their troubles by being hoisted up a 130ft tree in Borneo rainforest
- Duke and Duchess hauled up by ropes then walk along 300 metre bridge
- 'I hope I don't have a wardrobe malfunction', jokes the Duke
- Couple determined that topless pictures furore won't derail tour
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a chance today to forget for a little while the furore surrounding the topless pictures taken of her.
The royal couple visited a rainforest in Borneo and enjoyed the high life - by being hoisted up a 130ft rainforest tree by ropes and walking along a 300-metre long canopy bridge.
Kate joked: 'I'm going to go "whee" and fly the way up.'
William and Kate toured the Danum Valley research centre in Sabah, one of the two States that make up the Malaysian part of Borneo.
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High life: The couple were today hoisted up a 130ft tree in the rainforest in Sabah, Borneo
Smiling: The couple look confident as ropes attached their harnesses lift them up the rainforest tree
Panoramic view: William and Kate dangle from their harness with the Borneo rainforest below them
They arrived from Kota Kinabalu by helicopter on a flight which saw them take in spectacular views of the Imbak Canyon and the Maliau Basin, which is famous for its seven-tier waterfall.
While her outfits on the tour have so far have included designs by Alexander McQueen, Erdem and Alice Temperley, the Duchess was dressed for the jungle in slim-cut beige jeans and a plaited brown leather belt, sturdy walking boots and a sheer green blouse over a black t-shirt.
She saw at first hand the conservation work of the Royal Society, of which the Duke is a fellow. It carries out world renowned research on the impact of deforestation.
High-level corruption has been blamed for the destruction of the rainforests which have been turned into oil palm plantations because of continuous logging.
Less than 4 per cent of forest remains in Sabah despite the efforts of the Royal Society.
Strolling on the canopy: William holds onto the wire fence as he follows Kate on the walkway
Treetop: William and Kate talk to a rainforest official after being hauled up by ropes
Jungle king and queen: Kate and William after crossing the canopy to a small wooden balcony overlooking the forest
Are we that far up? William and Kate look down from a 300-metre long canopy walkway
Don't look down: : William strolls along the canopy bridge high above the rainforest as Kate follows him with a glimpse below
Having fun: Kate jokes with William on the second stop of their nine-day tour
Tengku Adlin, a Malaysian prince who previously accompanied Prince Philip in a helicopter flight over the rainforest when he visited the region in 1972, also flew with the couple.
He said: 'They enjoyed it immensely, they asked lots of questions about primates, birds and insects, and Kate was taking a lot of photos.'
On arriving at the field centre, the couple attended a short briefing with a group of Malaysian and British scientists, including Dr Glen Reynolds, the director of the Royal Society’s South East Asia research programme, which explores the impact of deforestation in the region and Dr Owen Lewis from Oxford University.
They were then fitted with special harnesses and helmets in a private room before being hoisted 42 metres up into a giant parashorea tomentella tree.
Officials used a 'counterweight pulley system' which had been set by rope access technicians to their combined weight, believed to be 150kg.
Relaxing: William and Kate walk through the rainforest in Sabah which has been destroyed by logging
On tour: William and Kate prepare to set off on their walk of the rainforest
Guided tour: A stern-looking William stares ahead as officials explain to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the conservation work being done in the rainforest
As they waited in their harnesses at the base of the tree, the Duke looked at his wife and quipped: 'Girls don’t have the same wardrobe malfunctions as men do.
' I hope I don’t have any wardrobe malfunctions.' He also added: "It's not quite as impressive as the Shard. When Dr Reynolds joked: 'Size isn't everything,' the Duke responded: 'That's true.'
The Duchess, appearing somewhat apprehensive as she looked upwards at her route of ascent into the jungle canopy, said: 'I’m going to go “whee” and just fly up.'
Simon Amos, the rope access technician who oversaw their ascent up the tree, said: “It’s the closest anyone will ever get to time travel.
'What they are seeing is exactly what it would have looked like 150 million years ago as there has never been an ice age here. It is as if time stood still.”
Ready for action: William and kate laughed and joked as they toured the rainforest
Casual look: No designer dresses for Kate who wore tight-fitting jeans with a leather belt and green shirt
Suspended in the air, with sweeping views over the top of the jungle canopy, they were greeted up the tree by Kalsum Yusah, 32, from Sabah, who completed a PhD in entomology at Cambridge University two years ago and is now based at the field centre.
Miss Yusah said: “They just said it was such a surreal, totally unique experience up there because they had never been up in the canopy.
“They enjoyed it immensely and they weren’t scared of the heights. They asked about the primates, birds and insects and they were interested in how the forest is sustained.
“They enjoyed it because it gets them into the midst of the canopy, where there’s nothing much else going on.”
“They enjoyed it because it gets them into the midst of the canopy, where there’s nothing much else going on.”
After spending around 10 minutes up in the air, they were lowered back down to the ground, with wide smiles, clearly stunned by what they had seen.
The Duke said: 'That was amazing.'
Goodbye: Kate waves to the crowds at Lahad Datu airport before the royal couple depart after their visit
'That was rather surreal, wasn’t it?' said the Duchess. 'It was amazing, such a treat, really brilliant to be up there. I could have stayed up there for hours, even though there were a lot of ants.”
The Duke wryly joked that even high up in the jungle canopy, he could not escape a photographer who had been positioned high up in an adjacent tree.
'We saw a spy in a tree,' he said, before thanking the rope technicians: 'Thank you for keeping us safe, that was super.'
The couple then took a jungle walk with Dr Reynolds, who had offered them the use of 'leech socks', which the Duke and Duchess politely declined. 'Apparently they didn’t pass the sartorial test,' said Dr Reynolds.
But moments later, the Duchess may have wished she had taken Dr Reynolds up on his offer, as a jungle leech attached itself to her leg. 'She dealt with it very calmly and just bent down and picked it off.'
The Duke and Duchess then visited the field centre’s laboratory, where they met with representatives and academics from Raleigh International, the Earthwatch NGO, and Oxford University.
Wild in the jungle: An Orang-Utan is seen near the tree William and Kate were hoisted up by forest conservationists
Speaking to a group of academics and students in the laboratory about their research, the Duchess was told of how the region’s rainforest is believed to be the oldest in the world, and is home to the world’s largest natural Orang-Utan population and rare species including the clouded leopard, Macaque monkies and the Borneo pygmie elephant.
Staking up: Closer magazines displayed at the the company's headquarter, in Montrouge, near to Paris
The Duke asked: “Are Orang-Utans quite social animals? Do they have big families or are they solitary?”
The Duchess was also inquisitive about their mating habits, asking: 'Do they have any young at the moment? We’re very jealous [when the scientists said often see them]. We still haven’t managed to see one.'
The couple also looked at a selection of pressed jungle flowers and leaves. 'Do you press the leaves here yourself?' said the Duchess. Her husband then joked: 'She’ll now ask you all about how you do it – she’s very arty.'
In an attempt to enjoy some much-needed privacy, the Duke and Duchess then retired privately to the lodge for the afternoon, where they were served an eight-course lunch of Sabah delicacies including fern salad with coconut and chicken soup cooked in sweet traditional local rice wine.
After lunch, much to their delight, they were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of an Orang-Utan family, a mother, father and their baby, while with a guide from the lodge.
The couple have vowed not to let the furore over a magazine's decision to publish topless pictures of the Duchess derail their nine-day Diamond Jubilee tour of South East Asia and the South Pacific.
The say they are determined to press ahead with their high profile visit.
A source close to William and Kate, said they felt intense anger and disappointment at what had happened but believed very strongly that the tour was far too important to British interests abroad to be allowed to suffer.
'The Duke and Duchess are hugely disappointed by what has happened but both feel very strongly that it should be business as usual,' the source said.
'They feel it has been a great success so far and have thoroughly enjoyed the places they have visited and the people they have met.
'Even yesterday, when they were reeling from the shock of what happened, their smiles were entirely genuine.
'They are determined to press ahead and that it should be business as usual.'
Last night the couple launched a legal action in the French courts against Closer magazine for what they described as a 'grotesque' and 'unjustifiable' breach of their privacy.
VIDEO: Will and Kate take to the trees in Borneo
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