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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A crowd of thousands soaked up the summer sun as well as the smiles, waves and handshakes from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Tuesday during their one full day in the NWT.

Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, outside city hall Tuesday afternoon - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo

Despite a day of scheduled to-the-minute activities, Prince William and Catherine Middleton stopped along the way to greet the public coming from near and far to catch of glimpse of the young royals.

"The way that they mixed with the crowd, it was more than we had seen in other places. They're obviously very relaxed here," said Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem, who greeted the pair at the airport during a rainy Monday evening and toured with them throughout Tuesday's events. "I gave them a little bit of background about Yellowknife, about the number of different ethnic origins and people that live here."

The hot, clear day was a dramatic change from Monday night's arrival as the royal couple made their way through a tunnel of umbrellas from the Canadian Air Force plane that brought them from Prince Edward Island.

Ashley Houle of Yellowknife brought her Union Jack umbrella to Somba K'e Civic Plaza Tuesday where she snatched a front row seat to the royal couple's official walkway. Luckily, her umbrella doubled as a parasol, keeping the sun's strong rays at bay.

"The royal couple are just so unique, knowing they will likely be our next king and queen is something special," Houle said.

Some were waiting for a handshake; little girls in pink dresses grasped flowers they hoped to hand to Kate; others waited for her outfit to be unveiled, which turned out to be a cream linen three-quarter-length dress by a British-based designer.

Prince William takes a shot at the net during a game of hockey at the Ceremonial Circle behind city hall. For the record, he missed his three shots. - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo

The duke and duchess, led by a piper, were greeted by the territory's grand chiefs and other dignitaries before making their way to a stage set up on the shores of Frame Lake near city hall.

"It's great to be North of 60," said Prince William to resounding cheers.

"This place is what Canada is all about: vast open beauty; tough, resilient, friendly peoples," he said, finishing his remarks with a "mahsi cho" - thank you in the Dene language - to the crowd's delight.

Premier Floyd Roland spoke of the "special relationship and long history" the NWT has with the royal family.

"I hope you feel confident not to just observe our culture, but to experience it," he said to the pair.

There was a bit of both as the day's events continued.

The royal couple watched Arctic sports such as Alaskan high-kick and stopped to observe the Dettah Drummers perform hand games and a drum song, as drum leader Bobby Drygeese explained the hand movements, the rhythm and the music.

The royal couple's next stop was the Ceremonial Circle between the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and city hall where they were presented with Canadian Olympic jerseys. The red shirts had "Cambridge" on the back, with Kate being number one and Will, number two.

Although neither of them wore the jerseys, Prince William took a few shots at the hockey net, missing the mark but not deterred as the crowd cheered him on.

Yellowknife city day camp kids sat on bleachers behind the hockey game, donning bright purple T-shirts. The group of about 30 children cheered for the hockey and for the royal couple.

"We shook their hands and I gave Kate some flowers, yellow lilies," said nine-year-old Danielle Letzing. "It was a long time to wait, but worth it."

The couple then listened to a group of young NWT parliamentarians in the legislative assembly.

"We were discussing motions. Each of the youth parliamentarians discussed an interest of their own about a school subject that should be mandatory in the school," said junior parliamentarian Matt Nguyen Ha of Sir John Franklin High School, adding he was adamant financial management was a must.

"It seemed as though the duke and duchess enjoyed it," he said.

Members of the current legislative assembly sat in their usual seats as the youth sat in a smaller inner circle.

After a reception where the royal couple received diamond cufflinks and a brooch in the shape of a polar bear from Roland on behalf of the territory, the pair made their way to Old Town, taking a Twin Otter to Blachford Lake Lodge for the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening.

While at Blachford, the couple saw demonstrations from Canadian Rangers and learned about land-based education through the Dechinta program.

The duke and duchess are leaving this morning at about 10:15 a.m. They will touch down in Slave Lake, the Alberta town that was partly destroyed by fire in May. There, the royals will meet with residents and personally thank volunteers, firefighters and rescue groups before heading to Calgary.

The royal tour of Canada is nine days long and cover seven locations.

Adele Boucher, who shook Prince William's hand in Yellowknife Tuesday after driving up from Grimshaw, Alta., said the hoards of people showing up across Canada to catch a glimpse of the monarchy says something.

"It's a sign that the younger generation do believe that the monarchy has a place. To see (William and Kate) come up here as one of the more remote parts of Canada, let's them see more than just all those cities," she said.

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