![Duchess of York](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/royal-family/2024/07/18/TELEMMGLPICT000386039709_17213197690190_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqcpoWzwBIzlnewd68KzIvqPctAPMNiKvlkcZf6zNr5hc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Duchess of York calls off Perth visit to let spotlight focus on King in Australia
Sarah does not want her public appearance at book festival to ‘distract or detract’ from monarch and Queen’s tour in October
![Duchess of York](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/royal-family/2024/07/18/TELEMMGLPICT000386039709_17213197690190_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqcpoWzwBIzlnewd68KzIvqPctAPMNiKvlkcZf6zNr5hc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
The Duchess of York has pulled out of a public appearance in Australia in October so as not to “distract or detract” from the King and Queen’s state visit.
She was due to headline a literary festival in Perth at the same time that the King and Queen are in the country for their first visit of their reign.
However, working members of the Royal family do their best not to overshadow each other’s public engagements, sharing diaries and trying to avoid clashes.
While the Duchess, who was divorced from the Duke of York in 1996, has not carried out official royal duties for decades, she has recently found herself tentatively welcomed back into the family fold and appears keen not to rock the boat.
A statement shared by the Festival of Fiction revealed that she had decided to postpone her appearance at Edith Cowan University on Oct 19.
‘She apologises to anyone inconvenienced’
“With regret, Sarah, Duchess of York has decided to withdraw from the Festival of Fiction, so as not to distract or detract in any way from the tour of Australia by His Majesty the King, which has recently been announced,” it said.
“Due to exceptional demand, she will be returning to Perth on Nov 1 at 6.30pm for a special event at Joondalup Resort and apologises to anyone who is inconvenienced by the change of date.”
The King and Queen will visit Australia in October before heading to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa.
![Camilla and Charles in Perth in 2015](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/royal-family/2024/07/18/TELEMMGLPICT000385581620_17213199238450_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqgsaO8O78rhmZrDxTlQBjdLdu0TL-Cg_AMOUqySXmFgU.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Plans to extend the tour with visits to New Zealand and Fiji were scrapped on doctors’ orders in lieu of the King’s cancer diagnosis.
Meanwhile, the Duchess is promoting her latest Mills & Boon novel, A Woman of Intrigue, at various book and literary events.
![tmg.video.placeholder.alt pK84Z_hsvOc](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pK84Z_hsvOc/mqdefault.jpg)
Last December, the Duchess was permitted to join the Royal family on the traditional Christmas Day walk to church at Sandringham.
It was the first time in more than 30 years that she had been invited to join the high-profile outing and was considered a clear sign that she had been welcomed back into the fold by the King.
The King, 75, is said to appreciate the loyalty she has shown to her ex-husband Prince Andrew, with whom she still lives at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
She continued to champion him throughout the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, as he faced a civil lawsuit from victim Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault, and was stripped of his honorary military titles and patronages.
The Duchess has also been invited to join the family at Balmoral during the summer holidays in recent years.
She recently revealed she was “so proud” of the “brave” King and the Princess of Wales for opening up about their respective cancer diagnoses.
The Duchess underwent a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer last summer and then learnt in January that she had skin cancer.