The Duchess of Cambridge is poised to do more solo overseas visits without her husband Prince William as part of a major shake-up of royal tours, the Standard has learned.
They will be shorter than standard trips and focus on issues that really matter to her.
Prince William has made it clear he wants to do things “The Cambridge Way” following heavy criticism of the Caribbean tour, which was dogged by controversy and a number of PR blunders. This involves ditching the “old school” model and holding fewer “staged events”.
He called together his most senior aides to find ways of acknowledging concerns voiced by the people of the nations visited last week.
Senior figures say Kate is increasingly confident after a decade as a frontline royal and ready to take on more solo roles.
One told the Standard: “Catherine has supported her husband magnificently and with real style too. But they are both older now and have their own interests.
“She is passionate about early childhood development and learning for example.”
As there are less frontline royals — with Prince Harry and Meghan’s decision to quit as working royals and Prince Andrew effectively axed — there is a need for the Cambridges to do more individually.
Both the future king and Kate want to focus on more issues where they can have a real impact and are seen as “credible and comfortable”.
William — who issued an unprecedented statement saying it was up to the people to decide if he should ever head up the Commonwealth — wants to modernise the monarchy by ending its long-standing “never complain, never explain” policy.
The insiders said William had considered putting together his statement even before accusations that aspects of the tour, such as their use of the Queen’s Land Rover during a military parade in Jamaica, smacked of “colonialism”.
Sources close to the 39-year-old prince laid out his “blueprint” following the challenging end to his tour of the Caribbean. After monitoring the reaction to the week-long trip, he sat down with top aides determined to say his piece.
“The prince believes that for him, the days of ‘never complain’ are over,” said a source. “He won’t be speaking out regularly but believes if the monarchy has something to say, then it should say it.”
He is said to “respect” the approach favoured by his father and grandmother but believes the monarchy should be “agile” to survive and thrive.
Amid moves in Belize and Jamaica to replace the Queen as head of state and become republics, William gained plaudits after stating the royals will not be “telling people what to do”.
A Cabinet minister on Monday backed the couple, saying they had been on the receiving end of “Twitter outrage”.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, asked on LBC whether he felt the tour had an “unfortunate hark back to colonial times”, said: “No, I don’t believe that. I believe the tour has been a fantastic outreach for the prince and his wife.
