A story in the London Daily Mail of 7 July claims Prince William hopes to visit Australia and New Zealand early next year. This came while he was promoting the work of Skill Force, a charity working to help young people often left behind in mainstream education, of which he is patron. Although training in the armed forces, the Prince is involved in working for several charities.
The reporter Rebecca English says that when he spoke to a teenage tourist Camilla Day and her mother, Angela, on a visit to the Tower of London, she told him that they were from Melbourne. He is reported to have replied: 'I'm coming to Melbourne soon.'
But a spokesman at St James's Palace said: 'Currently there are no plans for Prince William to go to Australia.'
There is nothing on the cards yet and talks are at a very, very early stage,' said one source. 'It's particularly difficult as the issue has only just been raised with a tiny handful of officials out there – even the country's Prime Minister doesn't know yet.'
According to Ms. English it is understood that discussions are underway with a view to arranging a visit to both Australia and New Zealand during a break in William's RAF training in around spring 2010.She said that the fact that William felt confident enough to mention the trip in public suggests that it is almost a certainty.
She predicts that a visit by the Prince is likely to cause immense public interest and is likely to frustrate “the country's growing republican element. “
Her conclusion that the republican element is growing seems to come from Australian media reports of the 2020 Summit. It is not widely known in the UK that the Summit was both not only mismanaged it was the subject of an appalling gerrymander which resulted in a Stalinist like “vote” of 98:1 in favour of “a” republic.
In fact the republican movement has been in a state of decline since 1999.
One thing is certain. Prince William will be very welcome in Australia.