The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been left with a "tough" workload due to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's departure from the Firm, a royal expert has said.
Harry and Meghan quit as senior royals in early 2020 in order to carve out a new life in America.
It came as the team of senior royals carrying out duties for on behalf of the Queen has further reduced following Prince Andrew's withdrawal from public life.
At the same time, the Queen herself has been winding down her busy schedule after suffering from health problems late last year.
This means several other younger members of the Firm have had to ramp up their public duties - not least Prince William and Kate.
And former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said this has been particularly tough on them due to their young family.
She told the Daily Star : “It’s been quite tough on William and Kate, with their young family, to step up and take on so many more responsibilities.
“They obviously set up Shout with the idea that the four of them would share out the workload and now it’s just the two of them.
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“William has an awful lot else to do, so Kate is shouldering more of the workload. It must be difficult with the children, but they are getting used to the reality.”
When Harry and Meghan quit as royals, they had to hand back several royal patronages that had been given to them by the Queen.
Some of these are yet to be redistributed to other royals - however, it was announced today that two of these would be going to Kate.
It was revealed she is the new patron of the England Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union, taking over from Harry.
To mark the occasion, today she paid a visit to Twickenham - the home of English rugby - to take part in a training session.
She joined England players and officials on the ground's hallowed turf and could also be seen running with the ball before throwing her hands in the air and cheering as she scored a try.
The players even lifted her up as she went to grab the ball in a lineout and she also took part in a scrum.
Beforehand, she was presented with mini England rugby kits for her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
