The couple visited Jordan on February 25 and 26 at the invitation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. It was an effort by the WHO to draw attention onto its myriad humanitarian programs in a small country coping with more than a million refugees.
The visit was not announced in advance and the focus was restricted to humanitarian issues of concern to the WHO and its partner organizations in Jordan. They didn’t also visit with senior government leaders or senior members of the Jordanian royal family, who are very close to the British royal family.
Why this particular trip? The Sussexes have partnered before with the WHO through their Archewell charity. In the autumn, they announced a donation of US$500,000 to the WHO to help injured children in Jordan and Ukraine.
It was the first “quasi royal” visit by the couple since their controversial and widely covered trips to Nigeria and Colombia in 2024. This two-day visit was noticeably low-key, shorter in duration, and not publicly announced well in advance.
Some criticized the trip but I believe that anything that can draw attention to such humanitarian efforts is a good thing, as every little bit of attention and interest helps some good causes.
The Prince and Princess of Wales spent a day in Wales celebrating local volunteers ahead of St. David’s Day, the nation’s national day.
The weather did not cooperate — it poured rain and just refused to stop.
No one seemed to mind. The crowds were so massive that the couple did seven walkabouts. At one point, they stopped their vehicles to get out and greet locals when they noticed people lining their route.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time, especially the kids. Kate took part in a game of “rock, paper, scissors” (the second video in the linked Instagram post) during one walkabout and, at another event, immediately donned a necklace made by a little girl, who also bestowed to William a huge paper daffodil, the national flower of Wales.
At one point, the prince got into a discussion about favoured soccer teams. He’s a huge Aston Villa fan and could be seek joking with children as they call out Birmingham and Manchester United.
Bonus: There was none of the heckling or shouted comments about the Andrew scandal that had occurred in some recent royal engagements.
On March 1, the couple issued a video in which they wished everyone in Wales a happy St. David’s Day … in Welsh, of course.
It was the first time that Kate has spoken Welsh in public while William has said he’s using Duolingo to learn the language (his dad spent months at a university and is fairly fluent).
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source writeroyalty.substack.com ’
