The Duchess of Cambridge was taken aback when she tried a 'very strong' local Polish tipple today - as she and husband William received a rapturous welcome in the city of Gdansk.
Kate, 35, and William are on the second day of their tour of Poland and, after an emotional visit to a concentration camp on Tuesday morning, they moved on to a medieval market in Gdansk's historic old town where they sampled local delicacies including Goldwasser, a traditional liqueur with flakes of gold, and pierogi dumplings.
'It is very good, very sweet,' William said after he downed the shot in one. 'And very strong,' Kate added as she recovered from downing the 40 per cent proof liqueur.
Damian Robakowski of Pod Lososiem restaurant said: 'They both seemed to love it. It is very powerful.'
Thousands of locals lined the central market square as the royals arrived, and during their visit today the couple were given a live demonstration of amber processing before trying out local delicacies.
As the royal couple emerged from the town hall to the strains of Handel's 'Zadok the Priest' - played at every English monarch's coronation since King George II in 1727 - the crowds cheered enthusiastically.
The Duchess looked radiant in a white floral two-piece from Erdem as she greeted crowds as the music by Capella Gedanesis, a world renowned ensemble, played in the background.
The crowds, ten deep, were held back amid tight security behind steel barriers and the royal couple flanked by close guarded maximum security.
William and Kate were welcomed in the Arthus Court in the very heart of Gdansk. Amid cheering and classical music the Duke and Duchess wandered through the Long Market with the Fountain of Neptune, a symbol of Gdansk.
They chatted to local tradesmen including amber expert Zbligniew Strzelczyk, owner of the Styl Gallery Gdansk, a city famed for the stone since Medieval times.
The craftsman said: 'They were very interested in the trade. Prince William asked about where the amber is found and I told him to 10 per cent is washed up on beach. I gave them two chunks of amber, one with an ant and two leaves inside and another with a little fly and air bubbles. They seemed delighted.'
They couple then downed glasses of Gdansk liqueur at the next stall, Goldwasser (golden water), a strong root and herbal liqueur which has been produced since at least 1598.
They also sampled some polish dumplings - a specialty of the restaurant as their favourite was to be named after them. Kate chose the salmon and crayfish and William picked a mushroom one.
After speaking with locals, the Duke and Duchess met with some British soldiers from the Light Dragoons before bidding farewell to the huge throngs gathered in the market square.
Following their trip to the market today the couple met performers at Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, which has the Prince of Wales as patron. During the seventeenth century there was a large English-speaking community based in Gdansk, which made the city an important destination for travelling English players
Earlier this afternoon, the Duchess of Cambridge was overcome with emotion as she learned of the horrors committed against the prisoners of a Nazi death camp in northern Poland.
Kate and William visited the former Stutthof camp where 65,000 people died during Germany's occupation in the Second World War from disease, malnutrition, physical exhaustion, exposure to the harsh climate and abuse from guards - as well as in the gas chamber used to murder those too sick to work, opposite a brick crematorium.
Both bowed their heads as they were shown inside the room today, which was used to burn the bodies of thousands of victims and Prince William - who was visibly moved - was overheard apologising to the museum director for asking 'so many questions' as they exited they crematorium. Surrounded by a wire fence and watchtowers, the stark wooden barrack blocks that housed inmates in cramped conditions still stand while personal possessions, from combs and children's dolls have been turned into exhibits in memory of those who perished at the camp almost seven decades ago, alongside portraits drawn by artists incarcerated during the Holocaust.
The royals were shown discarded shoes and clothing seized from prisoners on arrival at the camp and the impact of the visit was clear from the heartfelt message the couple left in the visitors' book before leaving.
'This shattering visit has reminded us of the horrendous murder of six million Jews, drawn from across the whole of Europe, who died in the abominable Holocaust,' they wrote. 'All of us have an overwhelming responsibility to make sure that we learn the lessons and that the horror of what happened is never forgotten and never repeated.'
After a guided tour of the camp, 20 miles from Gdansk, they had an emotional meeting with two British survivors of Stuttoff, Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg, both 87, who were both making their first return to the camp since moving to Britain after the war.
Mr Shipper said William and Kate - who declared they were 'honoured' to have met the pair - were clearly 'very moved' by what they saw, adding: 'You could see their faces. They were in pain.'
The friends were liberated in May 1945 by British tanks surrounding the barge on which he was about to be loaded. It was set to be towed out to sea and then blown up with Jews packed into it.
He has returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau several times, where he was also held, but 'most probably' wouldn't have come back to Stutthof if it wasn't for the royal visit.
He said: 'I asked myself many times 'why don't I want to go to Stutthof?'. I don't know. But when I came I realised how important it was.'
Zigi said that when he was a prisoner in the camp he was doing 'nothing, no work at all'.
He added: 'We were just trying to keep warm, huddled together. Then after a while the inside people would go out so the outside people could get warm.'
He said about the royal visit: 'When a royal goes and it's put on the television or in the paper, people say 'why don't we go?'. And that's what we want.
'People should know that it wasn't just Auschwitch-Birkenau, it wasn't just Bergen-Belsen, look at all the other camps.'
The royal couple paid their respects by placing stones by the camps' Jewish memorial, accompanied by Mr Shipper and Mr Goldberg, who recited the El Maleh Rachamim, the Jewish memorial prayer for those who have died.
Placing of stones at a grave or memorial is an old Jewish custom which honours the dead by letting people know that the gravesite has recently been visited.
