The Duke of Cambridge has praised the work of family liaison officers working with families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

He met the officers as he attended the Metropolitan Police’s passing out parade for new police constables in Hendon, north London.

He told them: “Well done guys, you really do an honourable job.”

The liaison officers, also based in Hendon, have been helping families, includng those who escaped the burning building.

William said: “I don’t even know how you begin to deal with that, it’s a really harrowing job you have to do.”

William also met some of the 182 new constables who were celebrating graduating from the Met’s Police Academy, watched by family and friends as they marched on the parade square at Hendon Police Complex.

They were inspected by the Duke and Commissioner Cressida Dick, who walked down the line, stopping to talk to some of them.

Each new officer will be posted to a London borough.

After the display, William joked: “Pretty much everybody I met at the parade out there was going to Croydon.”

The passing-out parade is a traditional ceremony that has taken place at Hendon since 1934 and marks the transition from trainee officer to probationer.

The Duke congratulated the new officers, and asking them about exam revision said: “(It was) something that I was pretty poor at.”

At the conclusion of his visit, he planted a commemorative cherry tree in the memorial garden.