The Prince and Princess of Wales could soon embark on their first joint overseas visit in almost four years.
Prince William and Catherine are currently on their summer break, holidaying in a top secret exotic location before they move to Balmoral Castle in the coming weeks, continuing a royal tradition started nearly 200 years ago by Queen Victoria.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are currently on holidays but will return to duty in the coming weeks when planning will begin for an overseas visit. Getty
But once they return, preparations are expected to ramp up for what is likely to be the royal couple’s most significant joint outing in years.
Prince William will be visiting India in November for his pioneering environmental project, the Earthshot Prize. In February, Kensington Palace confirmed Mumbai would host the sixth ceremony of the initiative.
The Princess of Wales has remained at home with their three children Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, for the last four ceremonies, choosing to be there for exams and other family-centric reasons. Catherine’s cancer diagnosis in 2024, and her round of preventative chemotherapy, also forced her to miss the awards.
But now, speculation is heating up that Catherine will join her husband in India for the next Earthshot Prize ceremony.
In May, the princess carried out her first overseas visit since her cancer diagnosis. The two-day tour of northern Italy, in support of her work into early childhood, was seen as a major milestone in Catherine’s recovery.
At the time, the Italy visit was regarded as part of a new schedule of overseas trips the princess has on the horizon. And rumours of her next tour, to India, quickly began.
Now, that speculation is increasing as the Prince and Princess of Wales prepare to return to work once their summer break ends.
“Following her successful return to international duties this year, which included her visit to Reggio Emilia in Italy for her early years research, Catherine is very much looking forward to attending the Earthshot Awards in India alongside her husband,” The Mirror’s royal correspondent Russell Myers said.
The Princess of Wales last joined Prince William for the Earthshot Prize awards in Boston during a visit to the US in December, 2022. Samir Hussein/WireImage
He told the publication: “The fact that she’s planning to go to India is such a huge milestone, not only for her, but for the couple together.”
The princess joined William for the inaugural Earthshot Prize ceremony in London in 2021, followed by Boston in 2022, skipping the last four years.
Prince William founded the prize in 2020 to find solutions to help repair the plant, with the five winning finalists given the award money to further their ideas.
The Earthshot Prize honours innovation in environmental protection and 15 finalists are competing for the opportunity to win £1m each in five categories.
In announcing Mumbai as the 2026 hosts, William said India was “one of the world’s most important forces for climate and nature”.
The country is the most populous in the world and is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally behind China and the United States.
Kensington Palace has not confirmed which royals will attend but William has been at every ceremony since its inauguration in London, followed by Boston, Singapore, Cape Town and Rio de Janero last year.
In May, the Princess of Wales embarked on her first overseas visit since her cancer diagnosis, spending two days in northern Italy in support of her work into early childhood. Getty
Catherine’s visit to Italy in May has renewed hopes she will make her return to the Earthshot Prize in November alongside her husband.
Myers said: “This is a chance of renewal for both of them and when they are together on the international stage, there is no doubt they have a far bigger impact.”
“The royal family − and indeed the country − has been missing that, and the way they are prepared to take on this trip at a time of immense diplomatic sensitivity, bodes extremely well for the future.”