Kate Middleton Isn't Joining Prince William on His Upcoming Trip to Africa—And Here's Why

If you follow the British royal family (opens in new tab) (which is damn near impossible if you use the internet or buy groceries these days), then you know that the royals are big into charity. They are also big into travel and they're really big into any chance to combine the two.

Next week, Prince William (opens in new tab) will take a little working holiday to Africa (opens in new tab) to do double duty. Will's first order of business in Africa (opens in new tab) is to visit troops for the Irish Guards, but he's also taking time to promote a conference about illegal wildlife trade, something Will has been personally fighting against for years.

"The Duke of Cambridge will visit Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya from Monday 24th to Sunday 30th September," Kensington Palace tweeted (opens in new tab) about the trip earlier this week. "The private working trip is being made as @United4Wildlife President and @Tusk_org Patron ahead of the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London #EndWildlifeCrime."

Before you get your royal-obsessive hopes up, know that there won't be pictures of Prince George (opens in new tab) and Princess Charlotte (opens in new tab) petting a giraffe or even of Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) cheering Will on at his appearance. Will is making this trip solo and there's a pretty good reason for it.

"Typically William has always worked solo in his fight against illegal wildlife trade, which is why we wouldn’t see Kate join him on a trip like this or him joining Kate on her own personal projects, such as promoting the importance of perinatal, maternal and children's mental health," OK!’s royal expert Christina Reeves explained (opens in new tab). "William’s visit to Africa is in the same vein as his 2016 solo trip to Vietnam, where his goal was to urge people to stop buying rhino horn and elephant ivory."

Of course, there's another good reason Kate won't be joining Will on this trip—even if she usually would. The Duchess of Cambridge is still officially on maternity leave (opens in new tab) until later this fall and she's still staying very scaled back when it comes to her royal engagements. And going to Africa definitely does not qualify as "scaled back."