Duchess Kate Sets Return to Royal Duties After Maternity Leave

The Duchess of Cambridge will make her return to the royal stage next week as her maternity leave comes to an end and she resumes her duties supporting several of her charitable endeavors.

Kate, 33, will make her first appearance of the fall at the Anna Freud Center in London on September 17, Kensington Palace announced, just over four months since giving birth to her second child, daughter Princess Charlotte.

The charity at which Kate will appear helps vulnerable children with mental health support using holistic methods education and therapeutic support. The Duchess has made mental health issues in children and young adults one of the cornerstones of her mission.

The appearance will mark Kate’s return to a limited program of public engagements that will also include attending the opening of the Rugby World Cup the following night, Sept. 18, also in London. Kate will attend the latter event with her husband, Prince William, and brother-in-law, Prince Harry.

Kate has spent the bulk of the summer with her children and Prince William at their country home in Norfolk since giving birth to Charlotte, the fourth-in-line to the British throne, on May 2.

The couple thrilled fans in July when the introduced their entire family, which includes Charlotte’s older brother, Prince George, to well-wishers at Princess Charlotte’s christening on the Queen’s Sandringham estate.

Prince William has kept busy since Princess Charlotte’s birth with his new job as a pilot with the East Anglia Air Ambulance but he will also see an increasing schedule of royal engagement this fall.

Next month, William, 33, will make a major speech on Chinese TV on the urgent need to combat the illegal wildlife trade, an issue that he and Prince Harry both feel passionately about.

Prince Harry, 30, spent the summer on the front lines of the efforts to stop illegal poaching in Africa.

The prince plans to return to London next week, just before his upcoming 31st birthday, on Sept. 15. Harry, who retired from the British Army earlier this year, will participate in the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain at a flypast next Tuesday and will focus his attention on wounded veterans this fall.

In October, Prince Harry will make his first of two public appearances in the U.S. in the coming months. He will visit Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings in advance of his Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style games for wounded veterans that will have their American debut in Orlando, Florida, next year.

Prince Harry will also make two additional foreign visits in the coming months. He will make a brief visit to Lesotho to view the strides that his charity, Sentebale, is making aiding the vulnerable children of LeSotho, many of whom are orphans suffering from AIDS and HIV.

Sentebale is opening the Mamohato Center expanding its reach in the area. Prince Harry will combine the Lesotho visit with his official tour on behalf of Queen Elizabeth to South Africa in November.