Your Guide to the Poland and Germany Royal Tour, Including Detailed Itinerary

Here is our advancer on the Tour of Poland and Germany beginning Monday, July 17.

First, a few details about both countries.

TIME: Both countries are 6 hours ahead of New York (EDT) and 1 hour ahead of London. When it is 1 pm in Poland it is 8 am on the East Coast. That is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles.

• If you need to quickly check on the time in Poland, click here
• To check the time in Germany, click here

POLAND: The countries colors are those of its flag, red and white. The national flower is the corn poppy, and its emblem is a white eagle.

GERMANY: The national colors are black, red and gold, as seen in the country’s flag. The national flower is the cornflower, and the emblem is a black eagle.

The family will arrive in Warsaw midday Monday.

A fun note: A government spokesperson tweeted these photos of preparations for Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Belvedere Castle, where the family is staying in Poland.

And a look inside.

Here is the latest from Sky News:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s latest European tour has been hailed as “historic” and a chance to “accelerate” the UK’s relationships with two important EU countries involved in the Brexit process.

This portion of the Sky story quotes Sir Sebastian Wood, the British ambassador to Germany.

Speaking in the Adlon Hotel in Berlin, in the suite where the Queen stayed during her 2015 visit, Sir Sebastian said: “I think a trip like this is significant whatever the context.

“In a way this is historic, the first time that Prince William comes with his family on an official visit, and it’s the beginning of what I hope will be a long standing relationship between them and Germany.”

All visits are conducted on behalf of the Queen at the request of the Government and the Foreign Office.

You may see the entire article here.

WARDROBE: Many of you will already know the likeliest designers Kate could wear, those frequently seen on previous tours. A quick recap:

• Alexander McQueen: I don’t think I’ve ever done a count, but if guessing, it’s possible (probable?) the Duchess has worn more Alexander McQueen than any of her other go-to designers.

• Catherine Walker. Below you see Kate in the Catherine Walker suit worn in New Zealand, Canada (2011) and again for Order of the Garter. I would not be surprised to see Kate wear it again on this tour because of its color.

• Jenny Packham: Kate wears the designer’s work in Canada (2011), India (2016) and Singapore (2012).

• Temperley London: Another favorite for the Duchess, at home and abroad.

• Emilia Wickstead:

There are many, many other labels the Duchess could wear that I haven’t included here; upscale brands like Beulah London, Erdem and Mulberry, along with high street retailers like Reiss, Hobbs, Goat, and many others.

Carly of Kate Middleton Style suggests we could see the Lasa Poppies dress because of the frock’s print.

Regarding local designers, HRH Duchess Kate was tipped by a reader that an assistant for the Duchess purchased a coat by a Polish designer, Sylwia Romaniuk. A spokesperson for the company, Daria Malek, confirmed the information. The piece is called the ‘Diana’ coat, said to be inspired by the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Ms. Malek tells me the coat also comes in black.

The Telegraph has a piece looking at What will the Duchess of Cambridge wear for her tour of Poland and Germany next week? From that story:

Romaniuk is well-versed in designing for Polish high society so would be a no-brainer choice.

Historically when word gets out before a tour about purchases/expected wearings of an item we do not see it on the tour but we’ll have to wait to learn if that is the case this time, or the Duchess decides to wear the coat.

The Telegraph story shared several brands that were new to me, I enjoyed learning about them. You may read the piece by clicking here.

Accessories to look for:

• We should see one of Kate’s existing Etui handbags, or perhaps a new style by the company, which is based in Poland.
• It’s likely we’ll see the Gianvito Rossi pumps: perhaps in the ‘praline’ colorway or another shade.
• No one would be surprised to see the Duchess wearing her Fern heels or perhaps the Florete style; both are by Kate-favorite LK Bennett.
• We could also see the return of the LK Bennett Nina clutch or even the Natalie style (no longer available).
• I would look for Kiki McDonough earrings and a piece of jewelry with local significance.

Town and Country has a piece tying into the Poland and Germany tour titled Here’s What It Really Takes to Plan a Royal Tour.

Once the itinerary is agreed upon, members of the royal party’s team travel out to the destination to figure out exactly how everything will work—from travel time to dress codes, camera angles, and the best place for the royal cavalcade to pull up.

A list will be compiled of all the people the royal party will meet, and matters of cultural requirements and etiquette discussed. Venue plans are drawn up to illustrate where everyone will stand, sit, enter and exit. All of the information is distilled down into a “tour bible” as thick and glossy as a magazine.

The Daily Mail reports on the support staff traveling with the Duke and Duchess.

Their official entourage will include 12 people, their adviser Sir David Manning, private secretaries Miguel Head and Rebecca Priestley, a four-strong communications team, an equerry, tour secretary, two logistics officers and a personal assistant.

The Cambridges’ Spanish-born nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, who trained at the prestigious Norland College, and a hairdresser, will also join them but will be paid for privately.

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Now to the schedule. This is also on our Kate’s Calendar page, but to make accessing information as easy as possible, we’ll also publish it here. As soon as we can publish specific times, we will do so. Monday I would look for the first event to take place between 7:30-9am EDT.

Monday, July 17:

• The Duke, Duchess, Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrive in Warsaw, Poland.
• The family will be greeted by Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda at the Presidential Palace.
• The Duke and Duchess then visit the Warsaw Rising Museum, dedicated to the 1944 uprising against the German occupation. Kate & William will tour the Museum, meet with veterans and light candles.
• The next engagement is at the Heart Warsaw, a business incubator for corporate startups and collaboration.
• That evening the Duke and Duchess attend a birthday party for the Queen hosted by the British Ambassador to Poland, Jonathan Knott, at the picturesque Orangery at Lazienki Park. The event will be sizable, with 600 guests; Prince William will deliver remarks at the function.
• Kate and William then return to Belvedere Palace in Warsaw, where the family and staff are staying while in Warsaw.

Tuesday, July 18:

• The Duke and Duchess visit Stutthof Concentration Camp, the first Nazi camp set up outside German borders; while at the camp TRH will meet five Holocaust survivors.
• The couple then travels to Gdansk (about 20 miles from Stutthof) where their first event is a street party at the city’s famous Old Market Square. The couple will watch “amber craftsmen at work, and listen to local musicians and artists.”
• Kate and William’s next engagement is at the Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, opened in 2014.  Williams father, the Prince of Wales, is the Theatre’s Patron. The couple will watch a special performance and “…attend a small reception inside the theatre for Poles from the world of arts, culture and media.”
• The final stop is the European Solidarity Centre, located in the Gdansk shipyards, where the Solidarity movement was founded. The Duke and Duchess will tour the Centre’s Museum, meet founding members of the Solidarity movement and lay a wreath at the organization’s iconic Monument. 
•  The duo will then join George and Charlotte for another night at Belvedere Palace.

 Wednesday, July 19:

• The tour arrives at Tegel Airport in Berlin.
• The first official engagement of the day is a private meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Kate and William then travel to Berlin’s renowned Brandenburg Gate, followed by walkabout at Pariser Platz, adjacent to the Gate.
• The Duke & Duchess visit Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, where they will tour the Holocaust Museum before walking through the Memorial itself, and meeting survivors.
• The next stop is at Strassenkinder, a charity supporting young people.
• The afternoon’s final stop is a meeting with Germany’s President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace, located in Berlin’s famous Tiergarten District.
• That evening the couple attends a birthday party for HM hosted by Britain’s Ambassador to Germany, Sir Sebastian Wood. The gala is at the Ambassador’s residence in Berlin.
• The Cambridges spend the night at the Ambassador’s residence.

Thursday, July 20:

• Day four of the tour begins with an engagement at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, where they will meet researchers and visit the stem cell research lab. Heidelberg is a twin (akin to a sister city) City to Cambridge
• The next stop, the famed ruins of Heidelberg Castle, considered by many the world’s best-known palace ruin site.
• Kate and William then do a walkabout in Heidelberg’s Marktplatz, or Market Square, before meeting Heidelberg’s Mayor, Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner
• We then have a repeat of an event first seen during the 2011 Canada Tour, a friendly rowing competition. The race will be on the River Neckar; one team will have rowers from Cambridge and the other from Heidelberg.
• That evening Kate and William attend a reception for the creative industries at Clärchens Ballhaus. 
• The Cambridges spend the night at the Ambassador’s residence.

Friday, July 21:

• The final day of the tour begins in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, with a visit to the city’s Maritime Museum. The Duke and Duchess celebrate the UK-German Year of Science; an initiative focused on the world’s oceans.
• The couple’s next engagement is at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, one of the largest concert halls in the world.  Kate and William will hear a special performance for children by the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.   
• The final official stop of the tour is the Airbus Hamburg Campus, where the Duke and Duchess will meet German and English apprentices and see the final assembly of an A320 aircraft.
• The tour concludes here, as the group departs directly from Airbus and returns to London.

NOTES:

• George and Charlotte are not expected at any of the official events; it is likely we’ll only see them at airport arrival/departure points the schedule is condensed from a Kensington Palace news release about the tour and a news release issued by the British Embassy in Berlin
• Kensington Palace shows official hashtags of #RoyalVisitPoland and #RoyalVisitGermany; the Berlin Embassy also includes #Freundship

Every evening we will publish one of these. In Canada we were able to include times; hopefully, that will be the case for this tour as well. Here is tomorrow’s schedule, sans specific event time.