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Prince William is to embark on his first official overseas visit to Australia instead of the Queen, it emerged today.
He will go as the representative of Buckingham Palace at the request of the Foreign Office.
The prince let the plans for the visit slip to an Australian tourist at the Tower of London. After posing for a picture with Camilla Doyle, 15, he asked, "where are you from?" The teenager replied Melbourne, to which Prince William said, "I'm visiting there soon".
A spokesman refused to rule out the tour but a source confirmed there was a "gap" in William's helicopter training early next year.
It came as it was revealed the Queen is to have her own £3million private plane under plans to cut the royal family's travel costs. Currently, they use two planes from 32 Squadron at RAF Northolt but they are more than 20-years-old and are deemed too unreliable.
