Catherine & William’s First Foreign Trip As The Prince And Princess Of Wales
Royal Family’s unexpected member unveiled as first to take 2024 overseas trip
The first overseas trip abroad on official duties this year won’t be carried out by Prince William and Princess Kate.
The first royal overseas tour of 2024 is set to take place next week – but it won’t be carried out by King Charles or the Prince and Princess of Wales, it will be by another royal
The first royal overseas visit of 2024 has been revealed – and it is set to take place next week.
It has been confirmed that Princess Anne will be making an official visit to Sri Lanka to mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and the South Asian island. King Charles’ sister will be joined by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence for the three-day royal trip at the request of the Foreign Office. The princess, 73, has been dubbed the King’s “right-hand woman” thanks to her support for her brother, and her reputation as one of the most hard-working royals in Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy.
Princess Anne will travel to Sri Lanka next week (
Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
The King and Queen Camilla are expected to visit Canada in May, and Australia, New Zealand and Samoa in October. There was no major joint official overseas tour for the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2023, but William and Kate are reported to be planning to travel to Italy for an official visit this spring.
Anne will undertake engagements and meet local communities and faith groups in the capital Colombo, the city of Kandy in the centre of Sri Lanka, and Jaffna on the northern tip of the country from January 10 to 12, Buckingham Palace said. The princess will also meet Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe during her stay. Mr Wickremesinghe’s predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled the country and resigned in 2022 following months of mass protests over the island’s economic crisis.
Anne last visited Sri Lanka nearly 30 years ago in 1995 as patron of Save the Children to see projects supported by the charity. The King and Queen, as the then-Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, travelled there in 2013 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Charles carried out solo trips in 2005 in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and in 1998 to mark 50 years of the diplomatic relationship between the UK and the republic.
Anne recently appeared in the BBC’s royal documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, and was filmed greeting her brother affectionately with the words “Hello, old bean” to the delight of the King. The late Queen’s only daughter told how she “felt a sense of relief” when the Imperial State Crown was removed from her mother’s coffin, symbolising her role as monarch passing to Charles.
“I rather weirdly felt a sense of relief, somehow that’s it, finished. That responsibility being moved on,” Anne said. The princess also praised Camilla for her “outstanding” understanding of her job as consort, saying the role was “not something she would have been a natural for”, but adding that “she does it really well”.
Princess Anne has been revealed as the royal taking the first overseas trip (Image: Getty)
The first royal to embark on an overseas visit this year has been revealed – and it’s not who you might have expected.
It won’t be King Charles and Queen Camilla clocking up the air miles. Nor will it be Prince William and Princess Kate who were recently blasted as “lazy” by a royal commentator for their perceived lack of official engagements.
Instead it’s Princess Anne who will be making an official visit to Sri Lanka to mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and the South Asian island.
The Princess Royal will be joined by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence for the three-day royal trip at the request of the Foreign Office.
Princess Anne will be making a visit to Sri Lanka with her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence (Image: Getty)
There was no major joint official overseas tour for the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2023 – but William and Kate are reported to be planning to travel to Italy for an official visit this spring.
The King’s sister, 73, has gained a reputation as being one of the most hard working royals and that status was backed by official data in December 2023 which revealed she carried out 457 engagements throughout the year.
But the King wasn’t far off his sister in terms of offical royal engagements – with 425 in what marked his first full calendar year as monarch.
