Royal Watch News

Duchess of Cambridge to take maternity leave

Dec 28, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge is to take time off from her royal duties when she becomes a mother next year.

The British royal is to have a period of maternity leave and is not expected to leave England on foreign duties for the whole year.

A source told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: 'The Duchess will give birth at some point in 2013 and it would be unusual for her to travel in the couple of months after that.

'No overseas tour has yet been planned for next year, and obviously the arrival of the baby will have an effect on the Duchess's diary.'

After Duchess Catherine's husband, Prince William, was born, the Prince and Princess of Wales waited for ten months before undertaking any royal engagements, after which they carried out a six-week tour of Australia and New Zealand in March 1983.

William accompanied them, and stayed with the nanny of then Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. During breaks in Prince Charles and Princess Diana's schedule, they visited him on the sheep farm in New South Wales where he was being cared for. This is likely to be a precedent followed by the Duke and Duchess.

The royal couple has completed tours of North America and the Far East since their marriage in 2011, and while The Foreign Office - which organises royal trips - is aware of the demand for them to visit Commonwealth countries such as Australia, they are unlikely to do so until at least 2014.