<\/a> For the first time since her cancer diagnosis, the Princess of Wales is going on a solo trip outside of the U.K.<\/p>\n On Wednesday and Thursday, she\u2019ll be in Reggio Emilia on behalf of her Centre for Early Childhood. In particular, she\u2019s looking at international strategies for helping kids in those formative years and wants to see the acclaimed approaches in that Italian city. This is a working trip for her charity, not an official one on behalf of the government<\/p>\n The last times she was abroad was in 2023. That is when she and William went to the wedding of the Crown Prince of Jordan as well as her two day trips to France to see rugby matches. Before that, her last multi-day trip was in 2022 to Denmark to see the Scandinavian approach to early childhood care.<\/p>\n For more on the princess\u2019s work this year, see \u201c<\/span>By the Numbers: Going for broke in 2026<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a> On Friday, William and Kate hosted one of the season\u2019s garden parties at Buckingham Palace. They <\/span>were joined by William\u2019s cousin, Zara Phillips<\/a>, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. (Two days earlier, the King and Queen headlined another garden party.)<\/span><\/p>\n In previous years, Princess Beatrice and\/or Eugenie would have also helped along with their cousin, Zara, though none of them are working royals. In 2024, <\/span>they were all there<\/a> to help William while Kate was undergoing cancer treatment. Now, the York sisters are no longer doing adjunct royal duties because of the continuing fallout of the Epstein scandal.<\/span><\/p>\n The garden parties are often a font of new information as royals share snippets of information from their lives to the guests. At this event, Kate revealed that she\u2019d taken up padel and plays with her parents. As well, she said she allowed the kids to stay up late to watch the Aston Villa match (see the next item.) <\/p>\n Aston Villa\u2019s <\/span>most famous fan was ecstatic<\/a> as he watched from the stands as the soccer team made the final of the Europa League, which will be held later this month in Istanbul. He even sang along to <\/span>a victorious rendition<\/a> of \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d along with other celebrating Aston Villa fans. The team hasn\u2019t reached any European soccer final since 1982, the year of William\u2019s birth. <\/span><\/p>\n And yup, I expect William will be in Istanbul , if his schedule allows. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve all gotten to know Sir David Attenborough through his nature documentaries and environmental work. For the royals, that relationship is much deeper as he\u2019s been a presence in society and their lives for decades. King Charles says he\u2019s known Sir David for more than six decades. In October 2020, George, Charlotte and Louis were featured <\/span>in a pandemic video<\/a> with Sir David asking him questions about the environment<\/span><\/p>\n So Sir David\u2019s 100th birthday on May 8 was a <\/span>big deal<\/em>! And a celebration worthy of the attention of the monarch and his heir, who both share Sir David\u2019s love of nature. <\/span><\/p>\n The King wrote a personal message in Sir David\u2019s 100th birthday card, which was then \u201csent\u201d via a special delivery chain of animals to Attenborough, who was at his birthday bash at Royal Albert Hall, where Prince William delivered the speech and was seated beside the birthday boy. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ytE!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc81f5a52-c76d-4400-8b49-d069d0755631_799x512.jpeg\")
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