Most of the world's great chefs are said to be men but when it comes to preparing pastry, a woman's touch is best, according to the Prince of Wales.

The royal praised female producers of breads, desserts and pastries when he met students from a London college's culinary arts department.

The heir to the throne was given a kitchen tour at Westminster Kingsway College's School of Hospitality, which has trained chefs for the capital's leading hotels for the past 100 years.

In the larder of one of the school's 14 kitchens, Kate Sims, 20, from Epsom, Surrey, was delicately making canapes of venison carpaccio, with chocolate jelly and a red currant, when the prince stopped to chat. The third-year student said after meeting the royal: "He thinks women are naturally good at pastry because of their lightness of touch."

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