UK’s Prince William and wife Kate to visit India next year

Prince William and his wife Kate will undertake their maiden visit to India next year, Kensington Palace announced today.

“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit #India in the spring of 2016, at the request of HM’s Government,” Kensington Palace said in a tweet.

“It will be the first time The Duke and Duchess have visited the country. Further #RoyalVisitIndia details will be announced early next year!” it said.

The royal couple, both aged 33, are likely to travel without their two children Prince George and Princess Charlotte on the trip, media reports said.

The visit is set to be their first official overseas tour together since their three-day tour of New York in December 2014.

It will be the first time William and Kate have visited the region, and as such they will undertake a broad range of engagements during their time in India, reports said.

Although Prince William has never visited India before, his father Prince Charles has carried out eight official royal tours to the nation, the most recent being a nine-day tour of Dehradun, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kochi in November 2013.

William’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales also visited India in 1992. Meanwhile other British royals to tour the region include Sophie Wessex, Prince Andrew and Queen Elizabeth II, who last travelled to India in 1997.

The tour announcement came after the 89-year-old monarch met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lunch at Buckingham Palace.