WILLIAM AND KATE ‘PRESS PAUSE' AHEAD OF CARIBBEAN TOUR

THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ARE TAKING SOME MUCH-NEEDED TIME OUT OVER HALF TERM AHEAD OF AN INCREDIBLY BUSY PERIOD FOR THE PAIR SAYS ROYAL EXPERT JENNIE BOND

- KIRSTY NUTKINS

With a pandemic raging, multiple scandals and the tragic passing of Prince Philip, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been a reassuring constant in the royal family over the past year.

Credited with keeping the family afloat, they’ve plugged away at the projects close to their hearts and put their best feet forward at more public engagements than ever before. And they seem to be showing no signs of slowing down – with 2022 getting off to an exceptionally busy start.

So it’s little wonder that Prince William and Kate decided to step away from their public duties last week to spend some quality time with children George, eight, Charlotte, six, and Louis, three, in their half-term break from school and nursery.

While their exact plans have been kept under wraps, the Cambridges have previously packed their skis and headed to the mountains for February holidays. They are fans of glitzy Courchevel in the French Alps, where they took George and Charlotte for their first skiing holiday in 2016. Kate, 40, and William, 39, are also said to have stayed there with her parents in 2010.

The royal couple are keen skiers and William was pictured with Kate for the first time on the slopes of Klosters in 2003. The family haven’t been away skiing since 2019, shortly before the pandemic, and will no doubt be keen to get back to the snow.

However, royal expert Jennie Bond believes they would be equally happy closer to home, in Norfolk.