Kate Middleton volunteers with Scouts

Their motto states that they must always Be Prepared, and it looked as if the Duchess of Cambridge has taken note on Friday. She proved herself to be a worthy volunteer for the Scouts as she arrived fully equipped with cold weather gear to help out at a snow-covered camp in the Lake District in the UK.

Wrapped up warm in a parka coat, tweed hat and wellies, she put her own stylish twist on her red, white and blue Scout neckerchief, tying it in a friendship knot rather than securing it with the traditional woggle.

The Duchess, who is expecting her first baby in July, joined fellow volunteers as they trained to work with Beavers and Cubs at the Great Tower Scout Camp near Newby Bridge in Cumbria. The Duchess lent her high profile to the adventuring organisation with a public visit. She and the other volunteers taught Scouts how to light a fire in the freezing conditions, and the Duchess helped make bread twists on the open fire, getting her priceless sapphire and diamond engagement ring covered in dough in the process.

As the volunteers toasted their twists, the Duchess, 31, laughed at the state of some of her fellow volunteers' bread. Hers turned out well and she offered it, joking: "You're welcome to try some."

Eventually she decided to try some herself. "Oh it's actually not bad," she said, adding: "If you were desperately hungry." The Duchess's pregnancy meant she could not take part in some of the more energetic activities, such as tree-climbing, so she kept her pounds 300 Le Chameau wellies firmly on the ground.

A group of Cub Scouts from Cumbria and Manchester were taking part in an event at the site near Windermere.

The Duchess has been volunteering privately with the Scouts near her home in Anglesey since last January.

Bear Grylls, the Chief Scout, said: "The Duchess has an incredibly busy life yet, since she joined the Scouts, she has so generously managed to volunteer some incredible time to help out and get involved with her local group.

"Over the last few years it has been our mission to make it easier for adults to give as much or as little time as they are able - it is how we change our society: many people doing a little bit."