For any parent, leaving a child at home can be difficult. Kate Middleton may be a duchess, but she is also a mother and not immune to this experience.

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge settle into life in the UK after an eight-day tour of the Caribbean, royal author Katie Nicole reflected on how difficult it has been for Middleton to travel without her children in the past.

"I remember being on tour with her in Bhutan (in 2016, when Princess Charlotte was 11 months old) and having a moment with her where we talked about how difficult it was to leave small children behind," Nicole told Closer. [Despite being the Duchess of Cambridge and being able to afford 24-hour nannies and such, she had her mother take care of Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

"I could see how much that gave her a sense of security and confidence that she could get her job done.

When speaking with author and podcast host Giovanna Fletcher in 2020, the Duchess had already admitted to feeling "motherly guilt" when she had to leave George, Charlotte, and Louis.

"Yeah, all the time. Even this morning, when George and Charlotte came to visit us at preschool, they said, 'Mom, why didn't you take us to school this morning?'

Unfortunately, Middleton will need to travel more and more as her role in the royal family evolves. Hopefully it will get a little easier for her as the children grow up.

"William and Kate are in grooming now," former royal butler Paul Burrell told Closer. 'They are spending their apprenticeship in the Caribbean [to become the future king and queen].'

"The queen will be very proud of them and as time goes on their duties will become greater. It is sad for them because they have a young family.

Because of the protests from the visiting countries of Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

There are reports that Prince William intends to plan shorter trips in the future and hopefully he and his wife will not be away from their children for long periods of time.