NEED TO KNOW
- The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to be considering a long-awaited royal tour of Australia.
- Their last visit was in 2014, when they travelled with a baby Prince George.
- A return trip has been discussed for years but delayed due to Kate’s health.
- Palace insiders say an official visit could happen as early as late 2026.
- The potential tour comes amid renewed scrutiny following Harry and Meghan’s recent Australia visit.
When the Prince and Princess of Wales warmly interacted with members of the public at an event in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday, at Buckingham Palace on April 21, they looked happy and totally at ease.
“They are just so natural with the public,” a palace insider tells New Idea. “It also signalled their importance as senior working royals.”
But following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s recent ‘quasi-royal’ tour of Australia, calls have increased for Prince William, 43, and Princess Catherine, 44, to display some of that warmth further afield – on an official state visit to our shores!
The couple received a rapturous reception when they were last here in 2014, accompanied by a then baby Prince George.
A return visit with George, now 12, Princess Charlotte, who turns 11 on May 2, and Prince Louis, eight, has been on the cards for years. But it was put on the back burner following Kate’s cancer diagnosis in 2024.
“Now that her health has improved, Kate and William know an official visit to a Commonwealth country as important as Australia – as a family – is overdue, especially since King Charles and Queen Camilla, who are in their late 70s, made the trip in 2024,” our source says.
“They are well aware too that an official tour by them will take any gloss off Prince Harry and Meghan’s recent, controversial visit.”
During Harry and Meghan’s four days here, eyebrows were raised at the palace about the couple conducting a ‘half-in, half-out’ royal tour.
They met with victims of the Bondi massacre, which is exactly the sort of engagement Wills and Kate would be expected to undertake. They also allegedly received payments for their speaking engagements.
“It was exactly what Queen Elizabeth refused as an option when Harry and Meghan decided to leave full-time royal work in 2020, ahead of their move to California,” our source says.
“William and Kate both know that they need to give Australia a real ‘bells and whistles’ royal tour as soon as their schedule allows.”
Palace insiders are unofficially calling the visit, which could happen before the end of this year, “a revenge tour”.
“William and Kate know that the Australian public deserve better,” our source adds. “It’s their job to make it happen.”
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