Prince William and Kate to visit South Pacific for Diamond Jubilee

PA

The Royal Family are set to tour the globe in 2012 to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Buckingham Palace has announced.

While senior royals ill visit the Queen's 15 realms - nations where the sovereign is head of state - major Commonwealth countries and other destinations with close links to the UK, it is the younger royals trips that are likely to garner the most interest.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are set to visit Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, a tiny South Pacific island that has not received a royal visit since 1982, when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were carried through the capital Funafuti in canoes.

Prince Harry will tour Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in what will be his first solo tour on behalf of the Queen.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will travel to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as part of the celebrations.

The Duke of York will visit India, the Princess Royal Mozambique and Zambia, the Duke of Gloucester the British Virgin Islands and Malta, and the Duke of Kent the Falkland Islands and Uganda.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex will tour the Caribbean, visiting Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Gibraltar.

Although details of royal engagements and specific dates have yet to be released, it's likely that host countries will put on grand events for the visits that will celebrate the Queen's 60-year reign.

The Queen and Philip will stay in the UK for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and will do an extensive tour of the country, taking her to take her to north London on 29 March, Wales 26-27 April, South West 1-2 May, south London 15 May, North West 16-17 May, and national celebrations in the capital from 2-5 June .

From 13-14 June the Diamond Jubilee tour will visit the East Midlands and East Anglia, and South East 25 June, with a return visit on 25 July.

The royal couple will visit Scotland from 2-6 July during their traditional summer stay at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, West Midlands 11-12 July and North East 18-19 July .

The dates for Northern Ireland will be released later.

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