{"id":948707,"date":"2026-05-09T17:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T17:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948707\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T17:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T17:03:23","slug":"princess-of-waless-italy-trip-signals-new-normal-for-royal-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948707\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess of Wales\u2019s Italy trip signals \u2018new normal\u2019 for royal tours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catherine, Princess of Wales\u2019s upcoming trip to Italy marks the start of a \u201cnew normal\u201d for royal overseas visits, according to commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, who believes future tours are likely to be more carefully tailored around the princess\u2019s health, family life and personal priorities.<\/p>\n

Kensington Palace has confirmed that Catherine will travel to Reggio Emilia next week for a two-day working visit focused on early childhood development – her first official overseas engagement since announcing she was in remission from cancer.<\/p>\n

Palace aides said the visit will support the international expansion of her Centre for Early Childhood and explore the globally respected Reggio Emilia educational approach.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the significance of the trip, Mr Fitzwilliams told GB News that Catherine\u2019s public role had inevitably changed after what he described as a difficult period.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cCatherine has had a very difficult period. Also, she’s balancing things.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove everything else, health is important because without that, you can’t operate and function.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Fitzwilliams said the princess\u2019s evolving approach to royal duties also reflected her growing emphasis on causes close to her heart.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cShe believes in the outdoors, nature and so on, as we saw in those recent videos.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

Princess of Wales | Source: REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Waleses unquestionably have got this unique profile with people longing to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine\u2019s last major overseas visit with Prince William was their three-day visit to Boston in December 2022 for the Earthshot Prize Awards.<\/p>\n

Before that, their last major full-scale official tour was in the Caribbean in March 2022.<\/p>\n

Mr Fitzwilliams contrasted Catherine\u2019s new approach with earlier royal tours, including the high-intensity 2018 tour undertaken by Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince William and Princess of Wales | Source: GETTY<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry and Meghan went to the Antipodes in 2018. I think an amazing number… They fitted in 16 days. I can’t remember exactly, but it really was daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe one in Italy is more balanced. This is going to be a new normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Mr Fitzwilliams, that does not mean traditional royal diplomacy is disappearing altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don’t see an abandonment of the royal official visit,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Source: GETTY<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a brilliant way of handling her first official trip abroad (since her remission), absolutely so.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that royal travel would increasingly be adapted to suit modern circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can change, and they must change. It’s only sensible, given the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Standards: <\/strong>The GB News Editorial Charter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Catherine, Princess of Wales\u2019s upcoming trip to Italy marks the start of a \u201cnew normal\u201d for royal overseas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7714,8167,7720,264648,447,42623,5105,7710,519,264649,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-948707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-catherine","9":"tag-kensington-palace","10":"tag-meghan","11":"tag-overseas-visit","12":"tag-prince-harry","13":"tag-richard-fitzwilliams","14":"tag-royal","15":"tag-royal-families","16":"tag-royal-family","17":"tag-royal-official-visit","18":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}