- Kate Middleton and Prince William just wrapped up a five-day tour of Pakistan, just weeks after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry returned from their own tour of Africa.
- While both couples carried out official royal duties on behalf of the Queen, both had different approaches to this throughout their tours.
- For instance, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle published a detailed tour itinerary weeks ahead of their visit, Middleton and William's plans were kept secret for security reasons.
- Both couples used the tour to honor the late Princess Diana.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on a five-day tour of Pakistan this week, just weeks after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex completed their own royal tour of Africa.
While both couples took working visits on behalf of the Queen, the ways in which they carried out these trips were drastically different.
Read more: Every time Kate Middleton paid tribute to Pakistan with her royal tour wardrobe
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said that Kate Middleton and Prince William's visit to Pakistan was their "most complex tour" to date "given the logistical and security considerations."
This was due to tensions between Pakistan and India over Kashmir which made "the region unstable," former royal protection officer Simon Morgan told Insider.
Kate and William's tour itinerary was kept secret, while Harry and Meghan's was published weeks in advance
For this reason, Middleton and William's tour itinerary was not made available to the public. This is a complete contrast to the information provided when other royals visit safer regions, such as Harry and Markle's trip to Africa.
Buckingham Palace published a detailed schedule weeks in advance of Harry and Markle's tour, which detailed exact locations they planned to visit, when these visits would take place, and in some cases, the method of travel they would use to get to certain locations.
This level of secrecy was also extended to William and Middleton's royal press team, who were travelling on the same private flight from Lahore to Islamabad when the aircraft had to abort landing due to a "terrifying electrical storm."
The storm meant the couple were forced to spend an extra night in Lahore instead of Islamabad, something royal correspondent Rebecca English says the press were forbidden to disclose until the following morning for security reasons.
"There are a lot more factors you have to consider, compared to if you where just travelling to Manchester to open a new hospital," Morgan told Insider.
"There will be a lot of planning, a lot of risk assessment of the venues they are going to," he added. "For instance, how they are arriving and how they are leaving a specific engagement. Whether there's any sensitivity around that venue."
Meanwhile, Harry and Markle appeared more relaxed in front of the press than ever, even showing off baby Archie for the first time.
The couple made history by taking the five-month-old along to his first ever royal engagement, a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, during the trip.
William and Middleton's children were notably absent from the Pakistan tour. This could again be for the reason of security, or it could be because, unlike Archie, two of the Cambridge children are now in school, and are most likely being looked after by the couple's royal nanny.
Both couples used their tours to pay tribute to Princess Diana
Princess Diana had previously travelled to some of the locations that the Sussex and the Cambridge families visited on their tours.
William opted to honor his late mother by donning the same traditional Chitrali hat she was given during her visit.
At another engagement, Middleton was photographed wearing a shalwar-kameez, a traditional Pakistani dress that was strikingly similar to one Diana wore during her visit back in 1996.
For the Sussex tour, Harry focused on paying tribute to Diana's charity work and the legacy she left behind after walking through a minefield in Angola back in 1997.
The duke also walked through a minefield, and an almost identical photo to the famous one of Diana doing the same thing surfaced online.
He then visited the same former minefield visited by his mother, which has now been transformed to a busy street with schools, shops, and houses.
Markle wasn't able to watch the emotional moment unfold, however, as she remained in South Africa where the couple started their tour to look after baby Archie and carry out her own individual engagements.
The unique ways both couples chose to honor the late royal shows exactly what makes them so different, and so loved across a wide audience.
In terms of the different levels of privacy between the tours, it's clear William and Middleton's increased security was simply down to risk assessments made by their staff, as noted by Morgan.
Read more:
Kate Middleton wore a plastic tiara to a tea party with a 7-year-old girl with cancer
Kate Middleton and Prince William just made history with matching traditional outfits in Pakistan
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