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Kate to start solo engagements as a royal

Kate to start solo engagements as a royal

Although they are set to spend weeks apart, the Duchess of Cambridge will have plenty to keep her busy while Prince William is away in the Falkland Islands this month.

Besides training the pair’s new pooch, an adopted cocker spaniel, Catherine will attend her first solo engagements as a working member of the royal family.

On February 8, Catherine will visit the National Portrait Gallery where she will attend a private viewing of the Lucian Freud Portraits exhibition. A former art student herself, she is a patron of the museum.

Catherine will then spend her first Valentine’s Day as a married woman doing charity work by supporting Action on Addiction & Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. She became a patron of Action on Addiction in January.

The duchess has made one solo appearance when she stepped in for her father-in-law, Prince Charles, at an official function at Clarence House that he was unable to attend in October last year.

A royal aide told the UK’s Daily Mail that the duchess, who has not conducted any of her own engagements since her marriage last April, was looking forward to the visit.

“With her husband away, it is a perfect opportunity for her to strike out on her own,” the royal aide said.

Prince William flew out to the high-tension region of the Falklands on Wednesday night for a six-week deployment with his RAF Search and Rescue unit. It is the longest time the pair has spent away from each other since they wed.

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