Kate Middleton and Prince William set to miss sweet family celebration as duty calls in France

Kate Middleton and Prince William will miss a family celebration in the UK this weekend as the Prince and Princess of Wales have been called to France to fulfil their royal duties.

It has just been announced by Kensington Palace that Princess Catherine and Prince William will be heading to France this weekend to watch some Rugby World Cup matches. 

It has been confirmed that William, the patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, and the Prince of Wales will watch the Wales and Argentina quarter-final match at the Stade de Marseille on Saturday, October 14. The Princess will also be in France to watch the England versus Fiji quarter-final game on Sunday, October 15, also at the Stade de Marseille, in her role as patron of the Rugby Football Union.

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While this is exciting for the royal couple who are confirmed rugby fans, this will be somewhat of a conflict with their family schedule. This weekend was set to be Prince William and Kate Middleton's family-focused weekend which was a double celebration as Pippa Middleton's son is set to celebrate his fifth birthday this weekend. It was thought that as Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are on their half-term holiday, they would be involved in these celebrations and get to spend some quality time with their parents and extended family this weekend.

It is unclear if Prince George or Princess Charlotte will be invited to the Rugby World Cup this weekend, but as Prince Louis is only five, and still rather young to attend large-scale events it's unlikely that he will be invited if the couple considered inviting any of their children. Many outlets and royal correspondents have predicted that the royal children will not be in attendance at this engagement and instead, they will be at home with the rest of the Middleton family in Berkshire.

The announcement that William will be in attendance at this rugby event has been controversial as many pointed out that he decided to not make an appearance at the Lionesses final in the Football World Cup back in August. 

As Prince William is the President of the Football Association, his decision to skip the event ruffled a lot of feathers at the time and Prince William was labelled 'sexist' as it was considered to be a slight to women's football, and it was pointed out that he frequently attended important games in order to support the male version of the sport.