Kate Middleton Won’t Join Prince William in Singapore So She Can Support Prince George During a Busy Time

Kate Middleton is shaking up past precedent for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

The Princess of Wales, 41, will not join her husband at the 2023 Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony in Singapore on Nov. 7. Princess Kate will stay home to look after their three children during an important week. PEOPLE understands that Prince George, 10, has school exams that week, and his mother will be at home in Windsor to support him.

The update comes after Prince William officially confirmed he would travel to Singapore for the special event during the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York City on Sept. 19.

Princess Kate will break tradition when she misses the third annual awards ceremony, which she has attended for the last two years. Prince William, 41, launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to promote impactful approaches to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, with plans to award the prizes until 2030.

The inaugural awards ceremony for the prestigious environmental prize was held in London in October 2021, followed by a second cycle in Boston in December 2022. Last year, Kate presented the “Clean Our Air” award on stage, and she recently joined him to visit Notpla, the sustainable packaging start-up and winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize for “Build a Waste-Free World.”

At both previous Earthshot Prize awards ceremonies, Princess Kate made a strong statement about sustainability with her fashion choices on the green carpet. In keeping with the earth-friendly theme, guests at the event are asked not to purchase new frocks or suits.

For the inaugural Earthshot Prize awards, Kate opted to recycle a lilac gown by her wedding dress designer Alexander McQueen. She is known for repeating her favorite outfits, but the length of time between wears was a huge surprise — Kate previously wore the dress more than 10 years earlier when the couple attended a BAFTA event in Los Angeles during their 2011 visit to the U.S.

At the Earthshot Prize ceremony, Kate gave the dress a slight update, replacing the original belt with a bead-studded accessory from Jenny Packham’s 2018 bridal collection.

The royal chose a different way to promote sustainable style in Boston in late 2022, opting for a bright green off-the-shoulder gown by Solace London, which she rented from HURR, a rental platform in the U.K. for designer dresses.

She accessorized her look with the ultimate re-wear — an emerald and diamond choker that belonged to Princess Diana. She also wore halo emerald and diamond earrings mounted in platinum by Asprey.

The international contest invites changemakers to submit solutions across five categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate. Fifteen finalists representing six continents were selected from 1,300 nominees this year, and the winner of each category will be announced during the glamorous prize ceremony in Singapore. Those chosen will receive £1 million ($1.2 million) and support to scale their solutions, focused on reviving and repairing the land, air or sea, to size.

Prince William brought together business leaders, philanthropists and former Earthshot Prize winners at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in September, where he revealed why Singapore was chosen for the third ceremony following events in the U.K. and U.S.

“We want to get around the world. We want to see solutions in different places; we want to work with those existing ones while opening new chapters, new areas,” he explained. “I think Singapore is a gateway to Southeast Area; it’s a new region. We know the innovation sectors there are huge and technology is booming there. Singapore is a city of nature, so they get it. So it’s really exciting what’s going to happen in Singapore. We take a lot of time and we try to work out where is the next place to go.”

Accelerating momentum, the Singapore festivities will begin with an inaugural Earthshot Week. Starting Nov. 6, global leaders, businesses and investors will convene in Singapore to explore exciting opportunities with Earthshot Prize winners and finalists aimed at accelerating their solutions and bringing about tangible action to repair the planet. Members of the public will also be invited to experience local activations centered on the 2023 cohort of Earthshot solutions.

The Prince of Wales was inspired by President John F. Kennedy‘s iconic 10-year goal of landing on the moon while launching the Earthshot Prize. Last year’s ceremony was held in Boston in a tribute to President Kennedy’s birthplace, and the Earthshot mission embraces the same spirit of innovation in promoting impactful approaches to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges through the next decade.

Hannah Jones, CEO of the Earthshot Prize, previously told PEOPLE that Prince William and the Earthshot team were specifically thrilled to hold the ceremony in Singapore.

“I think he and we are all very excited to be in Asia. We think it’s a real opportunity to spotlight what countries around the region are doing, what people are doing,” Jones told PEOPLE in the spring.

With the countdown on, she added that the heir to the British throne “doesn’t stay still.”

“His ambition continues to grow, and rightly so. The focus is still completely, ‘What are we doing to impact? What is our impact? How do we scale our impact? How can we go faster?’ ” Jones told PEOPLE.

Source : People