Kate in an afro wig. Wills as a white van man. What they REALLY got up to at their Anglesey love nest The couple are welcome back whenever they wish, neighbours say Despite media circus, they slipped quietly into village life William would jog through the village talking to locals Kate dressed casually, never wore make up and was money conscious They are now moving to 20-room apartment in Kensington with baby George Island life: William and Kate with Lupo on an Anglesey beach. The couple are leaving behind an idyllic lifestyle Giggling as they adjusted their Day-Glo comedy afro wigs, the young couple slipped into their seats at the Empire picture house in Holyhead without a hint of fanfare. It was just weeks before Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement - becoming perhaps the most talked about couple on the planet. But in those last carefree days of the summer of 2010, the future King and Queen were simply two revellers among a group of friends from RAF Valley dressed in Seventies-style get-ups on a "team jolly" to watch Toy Story 3. Jean Owen, manager of the cinema, simply couldn't believe her eyes. They turned up in fancy dress and wore big afro wigs. Prince William's was purple if I remember rightly," she said. No one knew they were coming until they turned up, and they said they were wearing the wigs for charity. Another staff member added: "Although they were trying to be incognito, people recognised them instantly - but no one would have dreamed of taking a photograph. That's just not the way things are done on Anglesey. Little wonder, then, that William spoke passionately of his time on the island off the North-West coast of Wales when he made an official speech announcing his departure last month. "I know that I speak for Catherine when I say that I have never in my life known somewhere as beautiful and as welcoming as Anglesey," he said. Both of us will miss it terribly when my Search & Rescue tour of duty comes to an end. In less than two weeks, the Prince and his wife - plus their baby son, Prince George - will move into their first "official" residence: a four-storey, 20-room apartment in Kensington Palace. The second in line to the throne will then embark on the first stage of his new role as a fully-fledged royal. According to well-placed sources, the couple are ready to embrace this new chapter in their increasingly public lives, but the formality could not contrast more with the relaxed existence they left behind on Anglesey. Until now, locals have been reluctant to speak about the newlyweds who lived in their midst, determined to afford them the privacy they so clearly craved. Hideaway: Their secluded residence is very different to the 20-room apartment in Kensington Idyllic: The royal couple went for strolls on the coast in the Welsh-speaking hamlet of Bodorgan Following their departure, however, several have spoken to the Mail about their time on the island - and some of the revelations cast this normally staid, rather unadventurous, couple in a surprising new light. Arriving on Anglesey in 2010, William decided to rent a £750-a-month, four-bedroom whitewashed farmhouse from local landowner and long-time royal confidant Sir George Meyrick and his wife Jean in the largely Welsh-speaking hamlet of Bodorgan, on the South-West corner of the island. The Royal couple used to regularly enjoy Wednesday night suppers of shepherd's pie and claret up at "the big house" (as the stately pile, Bodorgan Hall, is known) with the admirably discreet Meyrick family. The farmhouse is in an isolated but breathtakingly scenic position above the Irish Sea, surrounded by private land and overlooking a small beach, accessible only by an hour-long cross-country hike. In the garden, there is a gas-fired barbecue, which was put to good use by the couple in summer. Until now, the media has been barred for security reasons from disclosing its location, but it wasn't so much an open secret on the island as a fully-fledged tourist attraction, particularly for the hordes of summer rubberneckers hoping for a glimpse of the royal couple. Moving on: William used to jog through the village and say hello to locals, according to his neighbours Part of the community: The Duke and Duchess will miss their neighbours just as much as they will be missed Gifts: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, received gifts from well wishers at Breakwater Country Park William openly shared the house with Kate even before their marriage, although she retained her London pied-a-terre for the sake of appearances. Surprisingly, their decision to live there had little impact on locals, who saw them only occasionally out and about on the estate. There were always a few friendly words of greeting for their neighbours - but not always for visitors. One local, Lesley Matthews, 65, recalled last week: "A while ago, we had a Sky TV man come out to attend to some repair, but his SatNav took him to their farmhouse. He got halfway down the drive and then a load of security men with guns jumped out at him. He came round here in a bit of a state saying: "I can't believe what's just happened - I went to Prince William's address instead of yours." He had a hot reception. Mrs Matthews added: "I saw William jogging on his own several times near our farm. He would wave and say hello, even though he must have run for several miles. He and Kate would go pheasant shooting once a month, when he had a day off. My grandson would regularly see them there. They were always very friendly, asking how we were. Their homely farmhouse had two spare bedrooms for regular guests (most commonly the Middletons) and a third crammed full of fitness equipment, including a rowing machine, for slender Kate to hone her physique. And in stark contrast to Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, which has been filled with some of the choicest antiques from the Royal Collection (the Queen gave her granddaughter-in-law carte blanche to borrow whatever took her fancy), in Anglesey Kate was a regular at that temple of style - Homebase on the Penrhos Industrial Estate in Holyhead. Air base: The home acted as a convenient base for the heir to the throne, who worked in Angelsey Among her most recent purchases were a £9.99 red felt cushion with the word "Love" embroidered across the front, a £22.99 faux leather letter tray and a £10.99 magazine file. One member of staff said: "She loved it in here. She spent a lot of time here, especially in the lighting and bathroom departments. Day to day, the couple followed a very ordinary routine - although often William's commute to work was rather more grand than most. Neighbour Jane Nay, 50, said: "I could set my watch by the time he left for work every day at 6.45am, usually in a black Range Rover followed by security. But a few times his work Search & Rescue helicopter [a Sea King] came to collect him. There must be room to land a helicopter in the grounds of the farm. It made a huge racket. While William was on the base, Kate would pop out to the shops, browsing the bargains at her local butcher and fishmonger. "She liked a bit of salmon fillet or cod loin," observed one shopkeeper. She always asked what was fresh that day, and always about the price. I got the impression that she was quite careful with her money. Royal biographer Michael Thornton, another local resident, would see her pushing a trolley around her favourite supermarket, Waitrose at Menai Bridge, with her protection officer lagging behind. "The Duchess dressed casually and never wore make-up," he said. She was always very friendly to the staff, who were very proud of the fact that she shopped there. The people here are not terribly royalist-minded and were ambivalent, at best, about their arrival, but she and William won Anglesey over with their warmth and low-key lifestyle - and trust me, the people of Anglesey are not easily swayed. Little impact: Locals say the town did not change when the couple moved in even before they were married Casual: Catherine always dressed casually and never wore make up. She was also money-conscious Aside from visits to the cinema, there was surfing at nearby Rhosneigr, where Kate was seen buying a wetsuit. If William was working a series of particularly unsociable shifts, Kate would return to London to see what was new on the King's Road in Chelsea, or to stay with her family. Apart from that, the couple liked to invite family and friends from London to stay, or sometimes to socialise with William's RAF colleagues. Though friendly and approachable, they very much continued to "mix with their own sort," according to neighbours. The couple also enjoyed long walks with their dog Lupo on Llanddwyn Beach, a picturesque five-mile stretch with views across to Snowdonia National Park. Appropriately, Llanddwyn means "the Church of St Dwynwen," the Welsh patron saint of lovers, and Kate and William were often seen walking huddled together, fingers entwined. One resident recalled: "I saw them there one morning. They looked very much in love. Another local, 53-year-old artist Julie Franklyn, describes how the pair would drive around in a battered white Ford Transit van, wearing baseball caps and sunglasses when they wanted to venture out incognito. Everyone thought it was hilarious when they twigged it was them. It was very funny - William as a white van man," she laughed. Media circus: Despite the hype about the couple since their marriage, locals say they are always welcome back A king is born: Life will be very different for the new parents now raising the third in line to the throne The Prince would also seek anonymity by donning leathers and helmet and putting his red and white 180 mph Ducati motorbike through its paces along the winding lanes of the island - Kate occasionally riding pillion and the pair sometimes stopping off at the White Eagle at Rhoscolyn gastro-pub for a £12.50 "Snowdon" burger. While those carefree days are now behind them, it has been made clear to William and Kate that Anglesey would welcome them back any time they care to visit. Indeed, according to sources close to the Meyrick family, reports that they are to put the Cambridges" farmhouse back on the rental market are wide of the mark: "It is very unlikely they will do that now. They abhor the thought of people booking it just so they could claim they'd slept in the same bed as William and Kate. Actually, the house has always been largely used by family and friends to stay in - and this, I understand, is what it will revert to. Meanwhile, it's having a lick of paint to freshen it up - "but it doesn't need much work," one estate worker told the Mail. The recent tenants looked after the place impeccably.