Prince William mobbed by selfie-hunters outside youth centre

The Prince of Wales was mobbed by passers-by after visiting a youth centre in south London on Thursday.

The royal was hugged by well-wishers and posed for a series of selfies after visiting Mentivity in Walworth.

The youth club, hailed as “fantastic” by the prince, aims to mentor and inspire young people to “achieve their full potential”.

During the visit, Prince William played video games with its members – losing a virtual football match but winning a Mario Kart race – and chatted with its founders and Rik Salmon, an executive from Spotify, which is working with Mentivity.

Mr Salmon revealed afterwards that the royal had told him he used the music streaming platform to find new music and that it helped him to calm down.

Meanwhile, Zia Adeniyi, 10, who raced the prince in Mario Kart, said: “He said he didn’t know how to play it and he kept asking me the controls and then he beat me.”

Oluwaseyi Soyebo-Idowu, 50, who posed for a photo with the royal outside the venue, said: “I’m very excited… it was very nice to meet him. He was so humble, bringing himself down to ordinary level.”

The prince was met by a large crowd outside the venue, after word spread in the local area about his visit, with people surrounding him as he walked the short distance to his waiting car.