Prince Louis is offered his first official royal role at the age of seven… as the honorary patron of the World Conker Championships

Prince Louis was forced to turn down the chance to take on his first official role as a working royal as boss of the World Conker Championship.

The offer was made to the seven-year-old prince after organizers heard about his habit of hiding horse chestnuts around Kensington Palace.

While palace staff were delighted with the invitation, Louis’ parents rejected the offer as the young Prince was still several years away from starting work.

A palace spokesman said: ‘We really appreciate your invitation but Prince Louis is currently ‘freeing up’ on his studies.’

The Prince’s love of horse chestnuts was revealed by Princess Kate during a trip with US First Lady Melania Trump, who spent time with a group of Boy Scouts in Frogmore Gardens during US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK.

Kate, co-president of the Boy Scouts, told Chief Scout Dwayne Fields about Louis’ current obsession.

‘We keep finding horse chestnuts in the closets, in the bed; There are horse chestnuts everywhere!’

The royal also revealed that Louis was so enamored with the autumnal food that he even put horse chestnuts in his toy trucks and played with them.

World Conker Championship spokesman St John Burkett said: Telegram They said they invited Prince Louis to the event as patron earlier this week and were ‘eagerly awaiting a response’.

He said: ‘Like many other organizations patronized by members of the Royal Family, we have charitable causes and have raised nearly £450,000 to help people living with sight loss.

‘We were very encouraged to hear that Prince Louis is a Conkers fan and would make an excellent honorary patron for our organization. We would be very happy if his family accepts our offer.’

He added that Prince Louis would be welcomed to attend an event in the future.

The quirky event has strong ties to the royal family after it was revealed King Charles stepped in to secure the event’s future.

Competition was in doubt due to a dry summer, meaning larger horse chestnut tree seeds became scarce.

Windsor Castle then sent a delivery of more than 300 horse chestnuts to be used at the event.

Two rivals battle as participants try to destroy their opponent’s horse chestnut by shattering it into pieces

This year’s event took place on Sunday but contestants had to go through ‘airport style’ security following a cheating controversy in 2024.

Organizers said around 256 people from nine different countries, including Japan, took part in this year’s competition, held in Southwick, West Sussex, on Sunday.

Security at this year’s event has been stepped up to prevent further scandals after the 2024 tournament was thrown into disarray when men’s champion David Jakins was accused of using a steel horse chestnut.

Mr Jakins claimed the title after a ‘fantastic’ one-stroke victory, but this led to his defeated opponent Alastair Johnson-Ferguson raising concerns about the horse chestnut Mr Jakins used during the encounter.

The row escalated further when a steel horse chestnut was found in Mr Jakins’ pocket, prompting the World Horse Chestnut Championship to launch an investigation into allegations of cheating.

The investigation, which took into account testimonies and examinations of the winning horse chestnuts as well as video and photographic evidence, concluded that Mr Jakin’s victory, his first since he started racing in 1977, was achieved fairly.

Organizer St John Burkett said of this year’s arrangements: ‘We had an airport-style scanner that competitors had to walk through, including a tray for them to empty their pockets.

‘We also had a handheld scanner and sirens and flashing lights in case something unwanted was detected by the scanner. And to suit the occasion, the ringmaster had a big magnet on a stick.’

Competitors at the World Conker Championship were subjected to ‘airport style’ security checks after last year’s tournament was riddled with allegations of cheating

He added that a man who set off the alarm while trying to bring in his own horse chestnut, against competition rules, was disqualified from Sunday’s event.

Asked if the new measures were ‘too harsh’, Mr Burkett said: ‘Who knows? Who knows? The magnet will tell.’

The event, which takes place at the Shuckburgh Arms in Southwick, sees participants go head to head, using horse chestnuts strung on a string to crack their opponents’ nuts.

Each player makes three alternating strikes on their opponent’s ponytail.

This year’s overall champion, Matt Cross from Lincolnshire, said he was ‘not talking’ after winning the competition, his first time playing the game.

The 37-year-old, who was crowned King Conker at the event, said when asked what it would take to win: ‘Accuracy, you know, they’re not big targets, so yeah, make sure you’re on target, if you hit it you’ve got a chance to do something.’

He added: ‘You see here, a village has been unearthed and it’s more than just a village, it brings together people from around the world with traditions that are hundreds of years old, it’s great to see so many people here and still applauding.’

Women’s champion Mags Blake said she “couldn’t believe” her win, initially coming to the event just to play coconut coy and have fun.

The annual tournament has been held since 1965, when a group of men planned to go fishing but failed and instead organized a horse chestnut tournament.

One of them had a blind relative, so they decided to all chip in and raise money for him.