The Palace Is Reportedly Trying to “Avoid Any Sense of Competition” Between Meghan Markle & Prince Harry and Prince William & Kate Middleton

From Cosmopolitan

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will go on a tour to Africa this fall, while Prince William and Kate Middleton will visit Pakistan this fall.

• According to a royal expert, this could be causing some drama behind the scenes.

I totally get that the main royal news today is all about li’l Archie’s christening, but please join me as we look ahead to the news of the future, aka the upcoming royal tours.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are scheduled to take Archie with them on a tour of South Africa this autumn, and the trip will include visits to Malawi, Angola, and Botswana. However, Prince William and Kate Middleton also have a visit scheduled for autumn and are going to make an official trip to Pakistan.

And while this is all very exciting (more Archie photos!), it’s also possible that the trips are causing a bit of a scheduling dilemma for the royal staff, who, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl, will try to make sure the couples aren’t competing for the spotlight or “pitted against each other” during their visits.

According to The Sun, Nicholl says, “I would expect the palace would have tried to have planned it so there wouldn’t be too many clashes, as the Cambridges will be putting the spotlight on Pakistan and the Sussexes will be shining their light on Africa....I think that’s why where couriers can avoid diary clashes, they will, because they’ll be keen to avoid any sense of competition between the couples.”

That said, the dates of the tours haven’t been announced yet, so it’s unclear if there will actually be any scheduling conflicts. Still, even if there’s not overlap this time, Nicholl says that eventually there could be some vying for the spotlight. “With two very busy working royal couples, inevitably, they will be away doing tours and engagements and official duties that will at times clash in the diary,” she shares. “The whole point of splitting the household and splitting the foundations is so they can each pursue their own trajectories....What courtiers will be hoping is that aren’t going to be any future clashes or conflict of interest or the chance to pit one couple against the other.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait until the fall to see how this all pans out!

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