Royal Watch News

Duchess Catherine to join Queen on 2 engagements

Feb 14, 2012, 13:01 GMT

Duchess Catherine

Britain's Duchess Catherine is set to join Queen Elizabeth on two royal engagements next month.

The Duchess of Cambridge - who married Prince William in April 2011 - is set to visit luxury hamper store Fortnum & Mason with the monarch and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, on March 1 where the queen will unveil a plaque to mark the renovation of London's Piccadilly.

Catherine plans to join the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, on a trip to Leicester on March 8 to launch the Royal Diamond Jubilee tour to celebrate the monarch's 60 years on the throne.

The 30-year-old duchess recently undertook a solo engagement when she attended a preview of a new Lucian Freud exhibition on display at the National Portrait Gallery in central London, while William is on a six-week posting in the Falklands Islands as part of his training as an RAF search and rescue co-pilot.

During the visit, Catherine took in paintings and was greeted by Freud's daughter, Esther, and Sir Paul McCartney's photographer daughter Mary.

The Duchess of Cambridge went on her first solo engagement last October when she attended a charity dinner at Clarence House on behalf of her father-in-law Prince Charles.