Royal family to conduct several world tours to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Antigua and Barbuda are on the itinerary

Kate Ng
Thursday 24 February 2022 17:14 GMT
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Working members of the royal family will tour the world to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Those going on tour include the future king and queen consort, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal are also scheduled to go on trips.

Jubilee tours have historically been carried out to celebrate Her Majesty’s milestone anniversaries.

Prince Charles and Camilla will head to the Republic of Ireland from 23 to 25 March.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have the longest trip and will travel to the Caribbean from 19 to 26 March, where they will tour Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas.

Princess Anne will visit Papua New Guinea from 11 to 13 April, while the Queen’s youngest child, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Rhy-Jones, will go to Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines from 22 to 28 April.

The Queen, who currently has Covid, reached her Platinum Jubilee on 6 February and became the first British monarch to mark 70 years of service on the throne.

The 95-year-old monarch called time on her overseas travel a number of years ago, leaving the duties to other family members. However, it has not been confirmed if she will undertake a tour of the UK.

The last time members of the royal family went on global tours to mark one of the Queen’s milestones was during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

To mark her 60th anniversary of her accession, Her Majesty and the late Duke of Edinburgh toured the UK, while the other royals toured the rest of the Commonwealth.

At the time, Prince Harry was still a working member of the royal family and toured Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. He stepped down from royal duties with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020.

The Duke of York was also still a working royal during his mother’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and went on a seven-day tour of India, visiting New Delhi, Kohima, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai and Bangalore.

Prince Andrew stepped back from public life in November 2019 following a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The duke faced a lawsuit launched by Virginia Giuffre, who accused the royal of sexually abusing her while she was underage in the US. Prince Andrew denies all allegations. On 16 February this year, he reached a £10 settlement with Giuffre.

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