Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will spend their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple apart.
Kensington Palace announced Monday that there had been a minor kink in any Valentine’s Day plans that the royal couple may have had, as Harry will be busy at work as he visits Exercise Clockwork, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle in North Norway, on Feb. 14.
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Harry will be visiting “to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the operation in Bardufoss,” according to the announcement, and will “meet military personnel living and training on the base, view some of the specialist outdoor severe weather equipment and training that is conducted at Clockwork and talk with expert aircrews and engineers.”
Exercise Clockwork is the traditional name for the annual winter exercise, which more than 16,000 Royal Marines and Royal Navy sailors and airmen have taken part in since 1969.
Prince Harry had been appointed the Captain General of the Royal Marines in December of 2017, succeeding The Duke of Edinburgh. The occasion will mark his first visit to Joint Helicopter Command.
Although an official reason for the Duchess of Sussex’s absence on the royal outing was not given, it is likely due to the fact that she is only months away from welcoming the couple’s first child. Harry and Markle announced via Kensington Palace in October that they were expecting, and Markle recently divulged to a royal fan that she is six months along, meaning the little prince or princess should be here around April.
While she won’t be busy with any official royal business on Valentine’s Day, Markle will be busy nesting, as the couple is expected to leave their home in Kensington Palace to instead live in Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage. The royal property, located on the Frogmore Estate, is currently in the process of undergoing renovations in preparation of its new residents.
Of those renovations, a nursery, decked out in neutral tones of grays and whites, is currently being prepared for the little ones arrival. Prince Harry and Markle had reportedly opted to stray from traditional colors of pinks and blues in favor of a more gender neutral color scheme.
While the couple, who also spent part of Valentine’s Day last year apart, will be separated by hundreds of miles on Valentine’s Day, they will spend plenty of time together in the days prior. The Sussexes are expected to visit Bristol, England on Friday followed by an attendance at the Endeavour Fund Awards on Feb. 7.
