The Prince and Princess of Wales are preparing for their first tour under King Charles's reign.
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They will of course be travelling with a team – from their private secretaries to Kate's glam squad. But there is also a rather more surprising member of their entourage.
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William – heir to the throne – and his wife will be accompanied by a doctor on their travels. It is symbolic of their importance within the British monarchy; prior to 2019, the Queen and Prince Philip, and Prince Charles and Camilla were the only ones to travel with a medical professional.
© Photo: Getty ImagesWilliam and Kate pictured on their tour of Pakistan in 2019
That all changed in October 2019 when the then-Cambridges travelled to Pakistan – the first royals to visit the country since 2006.
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At the time, the couple included a friend of William's from his days working with the East Anglian Air Ambulance in their entourage.
© Photo: Getty ImagesHer Majesty the Queen was always accompanied by a doctor on her travels
Her Majesty the Queen was always accompanied by a Royal Navy doctor on her travels, with research carried out into the nearest hospitals in advance.
The doctor always carried equipment including a mobile defibrillator and emergency medicine around in case of emergency, and was said to never be more than a few paces away from the Queen at any time.
© Photo: Getty ImagesCharles and Camilla took their doctor with them to Pakistan in 2018
During their 2018 tour of The Gambia, then Prince Charles and wife Camilla were joined by their doctor, Professor Charles Deakin.
It has previously been revealed that in countries where a reliable blood supply is difficult to come by, both the Queen and her eldest son would travel with their own personal packs of blood following in their convoy wherever they went.
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Queen and Prince Philip pictured on tour together
In August 2018, it was revealed that one of the Queen’s three official doctors, Peter Fisher, was tragically killed in a road accident while he was cycling in Holborn, London. Peter was a physician to the then- 92-year-old monarch, and well-respected in the medical field as the director of research at University College London Hospital's Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM).
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