Kate Middleton and Prince William are starting 2024 out of the public eye. Princess Anne became the first royal to step out for an official engagement in the new year on Thursday when she visited the Oxford Farming Conference in her role as honorary president of the organization. Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter, 73, said in a speech that “farming as a family enterprise understands long-term value,” according to Crediton Milling.
Princess Anne is often named the hardest-working royal for the number of engagements she undertakes each year, and it seems that she won’t be slowing down in 2024.
While Princess Anne is also set to travel to Sri Lanka next week, there have been no outings for Prince William, Princess Kate, King Charles or Queen Camilla yet this year.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, 41, normally don’t have planned royal duties in the first week or two of January. That’s because their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, are off from school.
William and Kate typically scale back their royal duties to spend time with their kids during school breaks, an example of how they’re raising their children differently than previous generations of royals.
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“Those children look pretty happy with life,” a palace insider previously told PEOPLE. “A lot of it is the stabilizing normality Kate brings — and that’s how she grew up. William absolutely loves it.”
George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5, are set to return to Lambrook School on Jan. 8.
Last year, Prince William and Princess Kate had their first public engagement of 2023 on Jan. 12 amid the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.
Princess Kate is likely also celebrating this weekend ahead of her 42nd birthday on Tuesday.
While her birthday is usually a private and low-key affair, she traditionally marks the milestone at their country home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall. There, they invite family and friends for a few days of shooting and other country pursuits.
The guest list has previously included Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, William’s lifelong friend Tom van Straubenzee and his wife Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe, James Meade and his wife Laura, neighbor and longtime pal Sophie Snuggs and her husband Robert.
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