Princess Diana Started The Tradition Of Choosing Australia For First Official Tour

Prince Charles and Princess Diana fans who have been following the royal couple back in the days when they were still married must have noticed how picture perfect their family was. Even in their royal visits to other countries, the young princes William and Harry were often seen in photos documenting the foreign visit of the young couple, suggesting that the two boys tagged along as well.

But there is a reason why the boys were brought along in their foreign trips instead of staying behind in England. Apparently, it was Princess Diana who started the trend of bringing the boys along.

It all started in 1983, when Prince Charles was just nine months old. In her book titled “The Royals,” Kitty Kelley wrote that the Queen wanted to take a break from her intercontinental trips and asked Prince Charles and Princess Diana to go to Australia in her stead. Kelley wrote in her book that the princess refused at first. However, it was not done just for the reason of denying the queen’s request but out of her concern for William’s well-being.

“You were miserable when your mother left you for months at a time, and you were older than Wills,” Diana reminded her husband, who must have been aware of how lonely Charles’ childhood was.

In her book, Kelley said that Diana felt Charles is “emotionally damaged by his parents” as the latter were too busy with their official roles and were often on tour all over the world. Her refusal was because she does not want young William to experience the same feeling of loneliness that his father had to go through during his childhood.

But eventually, she agreed to the Australian trip. However, she insisted on bringing with them the nine-month-old William, along with his nanny. The trip set quite a few records back then. Aside from being Prince Charles and Diana’s first overseas trip as a married couple, the young Charles also became the first royal baby to go on an official tour.

Since that day, it seems that Australia and royal babies formed some sort of connection. The now married Prince William also brought with him his then eight-month-old son, Prince George, on an official trip down under in 2014, which also became George’s first official tour.

Even Prince Harry seems to be aware of this tradition. In 2018, he also visited Australia, his first official tour, with his wife Meghan as a couple. Since Meghan was already pregnant with their child on the visit, perhaps that might count as the baby’s first official tour as well.