How Prince William's First Official Trip Of 2022 Will Look Different
When a member of the royal family wants to go on a trip, they can't just jet off to the Bahamas on a whim, a la Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson. While Prince William and Kate Middleton do occasionally vacation outside of their home country when they have some downtime — like when they secretly took their kids to Jordan in 2021 — most royal trips are carefully orchestrated affairs packed with scheduled events that leave little room for leisure activities.
So, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge may look like they are having a grand ol' time in some of their globe-trotting photo ops, as shared by Harper's Bazaar — sipping wine in New Zealand, rolling pretzel dough in Germany, or petting a koala in Australia — their royal tours can actually be pretty stressful and the couple doesn't get much time to savor those amazing experiences. "Their visits to world-famous sites rarely last more than 40 minutes, and the chances are they will never return," The Telegraph journalist Gordon Rayner revealed, adding that he has "no envy for the Royal family" when it comes to their travels.
Another commonality between these excursions is the inclusion of a large entourage that can includes a dozen people, per Hello!. This group is composed of Kensington Palace employees, nannies, and those tasked with making Kate look picture-perfect: her stylist and hairdresser. However, these two members of the royal entourage won't be necessary when William makes his first overseas trip of 2022.
Kate Middleton isn't joining Prince William for his first UAE visit
While we've already established that Prince William doesn't fly solo, the former helicopter pilot is going to look a bit more lonely when he jets off to the United Arab Emirates on February 10. Kate Middleton will not be accompanying him on the short tour, which will be his first trip abroad since the pandemic made traveling more difficult, per Royal Central. It will also be his first visit to the wealthy country, where he will participate in "the United Arab Emirates' 50th anniversary and UK National Day's celebration."
Will is making the trip at the behest of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, but he will use the opportunity to advance a cause that's important to him: wildlife conservation. The UAE is a supporter of his United for Wildlife foundation and he'll learn about what the country has been doing on its behalf.
Will's last overseas trip was in 2019, according to the Mirror. Kate also didn't join him for that brief tour of Oman and Kuwait, as she had a NATO reception to attend back home, per People. She also missed out on a 2018 trip to Jordan, where she and her family lived when she was a young child. "She is very upset that I am coming here without her," Will said while visiting the British ambassador's residence in Amman, per E! News. Luckily, he made it up to her with that aforementioned rare private trip.