It took a month to make, cost ￡6,000 and should have been a collectors’ item for decades to come.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall on Thursday shattered the Waterford Crystal vase, in what was immediately dubbed a “smashing” royal visit to Ireland.
Before touring the House of Waterford, the royal couple were greeted by seven men and women dressed up as Vikings to celebrate the oldest Irish city’s first encampments in the 860s AD, staging a mock fight with heavy wooden shields and weapons.
The Duchess, wearing a silk shirt and green pinafore dress by Fiona Clare and black cape by Amanda Wakeley, laughed as a woman triumphed over her male rival, with a loud battle cry.
They shook hands with first responders who helped the community during the pandemic, thanking them for their efforts.
The Prince and Duchess were then diverted to small crowds, with one woman shouting, “We love you Charles! Welcome to Waterford.”
The Prince and Duchess then joined the recycling effort at the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford, where they were invited to destroy a faulty vase during their tour.
Camilla sensibly donned a pair of protective goggles before throwing a small rejected drinking glass into the recycling bin.
Prince Charles shunned the safety glasses and beelined for the large vase, which had taken almost a month to create before a small crack appeared on its rim during the handmade production.
The royal couple were shown around the famous crystal factory, which was opened in 1783, as they learnt about the intricate skills used to create the luxury products that can be found on the shelves of Harrods for around ￡22,000.
The Prince and Duchess each tried their hand at cutting detail in the bottom of a whiskey glass to encouraging applause from factory workers. They were rewarded with a gift of champagne flutes and a cut crystal bowl collectively worth ￡650.
Afterwards, they were offered a stiff drink - a tumbler of Waterford single malt whiskey. When one of the founders of the distillery told them it was a hard 50 per cent proof, the Duchess said: “ Oh gosh. You probably should have warned us before!”
Meanwhile, customers at a Waterford café will soon be dining on food planted by the Prince himself, as he dug a potato bed with the team at Grow It Yourself.
Joining primary school children for an educational session about the benefits of growing food, he told them: “It always tastes better if you grow it yourself.”
He also spoke in favour of allotments being added to housing developments back home in Britain, lamenting that “they never think about putting them in new developments”.
The social enterprise at GROW HQ in Waterford is an award-winning urban garden with a zero-waste cafe on site which uses food grown just metres away.
GIY reaches about one million people each year with its campaigns to encourage people to grow their own food and make their lifestyles more sustainable.
The Prince spoke to gardeners about their small plot, quizzing them about the variety of potatoes they were sowing.
He then joined primary school children working in raised beds, telling them “it always tastes better if you grow it yourself”, and even asking their teacher if they were allowed to keep chickens or a pig too.
Offered a child-sized spade, he took up the challenge with gusto to dig one of the beds and plant a potato for the next crop.
Meeting adult volunteers, he also spoke about food waste and the need for more green spaces for people to enjoy. “It’s amazing how much is wasted,” he said.
Before leaving, the Prince crossed a road to do an impromptu walkabout with several hundred members of the public who had seen the security and suspected a royal visit might be in action.
He greeted a row of pensioners, families and dog walkers, posing for photographs taken by excited locals.
“I haven’t shaken a hand since Covid but I wanted to shake his,” one woman exclaimed afterwards.
Another, perhaps getting a little carried away, told her friend: “You’ve just shaken hands with the King!”