Royal Watch News

Prince William pulls out of Teesside trip for funeral

Oct 8, 2012, 15:02 GMT

Prince William

Britain's Prince William has pulled out of royal engagements in Teesside and Tyneside on Wednesday (10.10.12).

The 30-year-old royal will not join his wife Duchess Catherine - who was formerly known as Kate Middleton prior to the pair's nuptials last year - because he is attending the funeral of his and Prince Harry's former nanny Olga Powell, who died last month aged 82.

A series of tweets on the official Clarence House twitter this afternoon (08.10.12) read: 'Just announced - The Duke of Cambridge will not join his wife as planned on royal engagements in Tyne and Wear and Stockton-on-Tees (Wed).

'The Duke of Cambridge will instead attend the funeral of Olga Powell, who was his and Prince Harry's nanny for much of their childhood.'

Despite William pulling out of the trip, Catherine will visit the areas on her own in one of her first public appearances in the UK since topless pictures of her were published in a French magazine last month.

Catherine will visit Newcastle Civic Centre to meet a group of people who helped to bring the London 2012 Olympics to the city and she will also meet pupils at Percy Hedley School, which caters for children with cerebral palsy and other motor disorders, and community groups and school kids in Gateshead.

To round off her jaunt, the duchess will meet families involved in charity Action on Addiction - which she became a patron of in January - in Stockton to see the work the aid organisation does with children living with parents who are drug users.