Prince George to Take Center Stage on William and Kate’s Overseas Tour
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Photo by Alex Davies/FilmMagic(LONDON) — Prince William and Catherine, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will make their first overseas tour with baby George April 7-25, when they travel to New Zealand and Australia.
Williams’ parents, Prince Charles and Diana, went to Australia and New Zealand with William in tow for his first overseas trip at the same age 31 years ago.
“It’s a tremendously exciting visit,” said Miguel Head, Prince William’s private secretary. “One or two engagements … have been identified as times when The Duke and Duchess may bring Prince George along, too.”
It’s likely that after a peek at George getting off the plane in New Zealand we will have our first look at the growing heir to the throne at a welcome reception for parents at Government House in Wellington.
“But George, being a little over 8 months old by the time they travel, I’m sure you will appreciate the couple have to make a final decision about that much closer to the time,” Head said.
A nanny will travel with the couple and Prince George, along with their private secretaries, Head and Rebecca Deacon; three press officers; a personal assistant; a hairdresser; an orderly; and, adviser Sir David Manning, who was ambassador to the U.S. from 2003 to 2007.
George has been cared for by a part-time nanny, Jessica Webb, who was Prince William’s nanny as a child. The young prince will have a full-time nanny along for this trip as the couple will spend several nights away from him.
The Duke and Duchess will travel on scheduled commercial flights to and from London, New Zealand and Australia and be transported by Australian and New Zealand’s Air Force while in both countries. Direct heirs to the throne are not allowed to travel with one another without The Queen’s permission, which she has given to Prince William so he can travel with his son. Kate’s mother is not traveling with the family.
William and Kate have been invited by the governments of New Zealand and Australia.
“Prince William has no doubt his wife will fall in love with New Zealand and Australia just as much as he has,” Head said.
“The program has been tailored to the fact Their Royal Highnesses have a small child with them,” a Kensington Palace source told ABC News.
They will be based in three principal locations — Wellington, Sydney and Canberra — and then go back and forth from there. Prince William and Kate will be away from Prince George when they travel to Queenstown in New Zealand and Uluru and Ayers Rock in Australia.
“Both William and Kate are very sporty people, which is a big part of life in both New Zealand and Australia, and they are excited to be part of that,” Head said.
Expect to see them sailing aboard a New Zealand America’s Cup yacht in Auckland and hitting the rugby fields and cricket pitches in New Zealand.
In Sydney, the royals will attend the Sydney Opera House for a reception before they take a boat across the harbour to Admiralty House, which will be their base for the Australian leg of the tour. William and Kate will also enjoy the outdoors in Australia, seeing the kangaroos and giraffes at the world-famous Taronga Zoo, which has named its bilby enclosure for Prince George, and take part in a surfing and life-saving demonstration at Manly Beach.
The trip will also honor the 185 New Zealanders who died in the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch and those affected by the October 2013 bushfires in the Blue Mountains in Australia.
It wouldn’t be a royal tour without a little glamor. While there are no black-tie events, there are several receptions where The Duchess will be adorned by jewels.
A young Princess Diana captivated the world when she wore the Cambridge Emerald choker as a headband alongside a turquoise Emanuel gown to a ball in Melbourne in 1985.
Kate will not disappoint, according to palace sources. She will be showcasing royal jewels, particularly those with specific links to the countries she is visiting.
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