Why Prince William and Princess Kate will no longer do 'lengthy tours'

And there's an interesting reason for it

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit Belize, Jamaica And The Bahamas - Day Four
(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang / Getty)

Apparently, King Charles and Queen Camilla are planning to make many visits to Commonwealth countries over the first few years of their reign.

Of course, they will also ask Prince William and Princess Kate to represent the Royal Family abroad from time to time — however, the Prince and Princess of Wales likely won't leave the U.K. for long stretches of time.

According to royal expert Jennie Bond, William and Kate will leave the tradition of lengthy tours abroad behind for an important reason. 

She told OK!: "William and Catherine are really the stars of the Royal Family these days. They have youth on their side and a good dusting of glamour surrounds them.

"They are also extremely popular both here and abroad. So there is no doubt that the foreign office will be calling on them to carry out some high-profile royal tours.

"But I think the days of lengthy tours, leaving the children to be looked after by nannies, are over. Largely, I think the school holidays will be respected, and future tours will be short and extremely busy."

The Wales' longest royal tour in recent years was their three-country tour of the Caribbean in early 2022, when they visited Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas. This tour was extremely controversial, due to Britain and the Royal Family's painful history with colonisation and slavery.

Kate and William's December 2022 trip to Boston for the Earthshot Prize was more of a success.

"The U.S. is always important thanks to the old special relationship between the two countries. The Americans are also incredibly keen on and fascinated by the royals," said Jennie.

"The Commonwealth countries are particularly important, especially with the noises being made quite by quite a few countries to ditch the monarchy, particularly some of the Caribbean islands, it will be interesting to see where the royals go in the coming months.

"Every tour carries its sensitivities, but visits to the Caribbean, Australia and Canada are now quite tricky and will need a lot of planning and a great deal of care."

Meanwhile, William and Kate are scheduled to visit Singapore in November, where they will host the third annual Earthshot Prize.

We'll see what other exciting destinations will pop up on their royal agendas in the coming months.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.