The Duchess of Cambridge has had a busy few weeks, and next Tuesday the royal is set to attend a reception for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace, which will be hosted by the Queen. And while other members of the royal family will be in attendance, along with President Donald Trump - who is returning to the UK for the occasion - Prince William will be absent from the event, as the Duke is going to be away on an official visit to the Middle East. Kate will be joined by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during the evening, as well as the Earl of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Prince Andrew will not be in attendance.
Kate Middleton will step out without Prince William to attend the NATO leaders reception next week
Watch Prince William at the Tusk Conservation Awards
Established in 1949 with 12 founding members, NATO is now an alliance of 29 countries. At the heart of NATO is collective defence, set out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding Treaty. The UK is one of NATO’s 12 founding members and London was home to its first headquarters, which makes the occasion at Buckingham Palace all the more special.
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The Cambridges enjoyed a night off parenting duties at the Royal Variety Performance last Monday
Kate undertook an engagement with her husband on Friday, which saw the royal couple meet with Sir Keith Mills and Mr Jason Knauf. Sir Keith is the Chairman of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, while Jason holds the position of Chief Executive. The mother-of-three was forced to miss an engagement the day before "due to the children." Kate was absent from the Tusk Conservation Awards on Thursday evening, which William attended solo, although she joined her husband to host a tea party for the finalists at Kensington Palace earlier that afternoon. The Duchess appeared in good spirits as she chatted to their guests in a video released on the Kensington Palace Instagram account.
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Last Monday night, meanwhile, Kate and William enjoyed a night off from parenting duties as they attended the glitzy Royal Variety Performance. While they were away from their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were never far from their thoughts and came up in conversation several times throughout the evening. Kate revealed that her kids had wanted to come along with them to the event, but that she had told them that they couldn't on a school night.
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