Do you think Kate and William have stepped up since Meghan and Harry left? POLL CLOSED
KATE, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William appear to have become more prominent than ever in the Royal Family since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped down as senior royals - do you agree?
Kate Middleton and William take part in mental health campaign
Kate and Prince William have been more present than ever in the lives of Briton over the past few weeks. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been working to support the NHS and frontline workers - from raising awareness about the importance of their jobs to backing online tools for their mental wellbeing - Our Frontline.
Kate and William have also ramped up their presence in the news by giving a rare interview to the BBC.
In it, they opened up on how they were living the ongoing lockdown, the struggles they were facing with homeschooling and how important it is to think about mental health on top of physical health.
Next week, Prince William will also appear in a BBC documentary focused on football, men and their mental health.
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And they have once again backed a Public Health England campaign, Every Mind Matters, which urges people to open up on their mental health issues.
But Kate and Prince William's prominence within the Royal Family appear to have started growing way before the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, since the beginning of this year.
Between January and February, the Duchess of Cambridge dominated the news with her groundbreaking nationwide survey Five Big Questions on the Under-5s.
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Following the launch of this survey, part of her Early Years project, the Duchess of Cambridge toured the UK to visit associations working with toddlers, speak to parents and carers and learn more about the needs of the under-5s.
Kate and William also became the first royals to tour a European country after Brexit was delivered, as they visited Ireland in early February.
The Cambridges' increased activities started as Meghan and Harry were winding down the number of their own royal engagements, following the announcement they would step down as senior royals in late March.
While several royal commentators agree the Cambridges, and especially Kate, have been so far more active this year when compared to 2019, some don't believe the increased number of engagements has solely to do with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex' decision to leave the Firm as senior royals.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers had previously told Express.co.uk: “She is quietly getting on with a good job, doing most interesting things and is certainly busy.
“I agree that we have seen more of her recently than in the past.”
One of the reasons why Kate is seemingly carrying out more engagements this year could be linked to the fact that she isn’t on maternity leave, contrary to what happened in 2013, 2015 and 2018, Mr Vickers said.
He continued: “Remember that she has been on maternity leave three times and she isn’t now.”
However, the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan together with Prince Andrew's decision to temporarily step back from royal engagements may have also played a part in the growing activities not just of the Cambridges but also of other members of the Royal Family such as Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
A source recently claimed the Queen has asked her aides to create a Royal Task Force to increase the Crown's public presence during the pandemic.