Prepare the royal luggage for one! The Duchess of Cambridge will make her first official trip abroad on Tuesday 11 October, Kensington Palace has announced.
Kate will leave her husband Prince William and her children Prince George and Princess Charlotte at home as she carries out a day of engagements in the Netherlands.
She will spend time in The Hague and Rotterdam, beginning her trip with a meeting with King Willem-Alexander at Villa Eikenhorst.
© Photo: Getty ImagesKate will visit the Netherlands in October
Kate, who studied history of art at university, will then visit the Mauritshuis in The Hague for the exhibition, At Home in Holland: Vermeer and his Contemporaries from the British Royal Collection.
The 22 works of art by Dutch artists have been loaned from the British Royal Collection to the Mauritshuis where they will be on display until January.
Kate will tour the gallery's permanent collection before visiting the exhibition, meet children taking part in the gallery's learning programme, and attend a short reception with museum supporters.
© Photo: Getty ImagesShe will meet with King Willem-Alexander, who attended the royal wedding in 2011
Next, Kate will attend the British Ambassador’s Residence in The Hague where she will take part in a roundtable discussion on the themes of addiction, intervention, family and mental health.
The Duchess is a keen campaigner for mental health, especially in young people and children. The discussion will bring together professionals from the renowned Trimbos Institute of the Netherlands, and two of Kate's UK charities of which she is patron – the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families and Action on Addiction.
© Photo: Getty ImagesKate will spend the day in The Hague and Rotterdam
Her last engagement of the day will take Kate to the neighbouring city of Rotterdam to visit Bouwkeet, a new community-focused initiative in the centre of an economically deprived district.
Local residents can use the facilities, and 'pay' by sharing their skills with others, providing education and positive role models within the community. The centre also works with local schools to bring young people in the area into workshops, where they learn to design, create and build their own projects.
Royal watchers will be taking note of Kate's visit to the Netherlands. It is the Duchess' first solo official trip abroad after she was unable to travel alone to Malta in 2014 due to morning sickness. At the time Kensington Palace had just announced her second pregnancy.
