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Prince & Princess of Wales

Pregnant Kate to join Royal Family for final engagement

The Duchess of Cambridge is to join the Royal Family tomorrow for her final engagement before taking maternity leave.

Pregnant Kate will join The Queen, Prince William and the rest of the royal family for the annual Trooping the Colour, the celebration of the Queen’s Birthday.

Kate travelled to Southampton on Thursday

Kate’s final engagement comes just days after she visited Southampton for her final solo outing. The Duchess visited the area to take part in a naming ceremony of the new Princess Cruises’ ‘Royal Princess’.

The visit saw Kate officially launch the luxury vessel and smash a bottle of champagne against the ships hull.

The Duchess has been determined to work as close to her due date as possible, and with one month left until the birth of the royal baby it seems the right time for Kate to step back and prepare for motherhood.

“Kate has really enjoyed her job and wanted to work as close to the birth date as possible.” a royal source revealed

Kate’s final solo visit on Thursday saw the royal follow a tradition of regal ladies taking part in naming ceremonies for cruise ships. The Duchess follows in the footsteps of The Queen and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The engagement echoed her very first engagement that she undertook with William.

In February 2011, Kate and William, just two months before their wedding, attended Trearddur Bay, near William’s Anglesey base, where the royal couple took part in a RNLI lifeboat naming ceremony.

Since her wedding to the Prince, Kate has thrown herself into royal duties becoming the patron of charities close to her heart. The Duchess has championed children’s hospices leading many to name her the ‘Children’s Princess’. The expectant mum has also travelled abroad with William. The pair have toured Canada and South- East Asia, and have briefly visited the US and Denmark.

It is expected after the birth the Duchess of Cambridge will take time off. Kate will most likely take several months off as she settles into motherhood. A spokesman revealed details would be confirmed at a later date. “We’re not really in a position to talk about that yet. A lot of this information will come out once the baby’s been born”.