Prince William and Kate 'excited' to be 'following in the Queen's footsteps' during Caribbean royal tour

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are preparing to embark on their first ever tour of the Caribbean in celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Prince William and Kate will visit Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas next week with their itinerary carefully planned to pay tribute to the Queen in her 70th year as monarch.

The couple will walk in the Queen's footsteps with a number of engagements that mirror her visit to the region over the years, including her first time in Jamaica just six months after the coronation.

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William and Kate are set to travel in the same Jeep used by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during a number of visits to Jamaica where they waved to thousands of islanders who came out to see the new monarch.

Queen Elizabeth has visited the island six times, first in 1953 and then again in 1966, 1975, 1983, 1994, and 2002.

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Prince William and Kate's tour comes just four months after Barbados cut ties with the British crown after more than 400 years.

Their visit aims to show how important the countries are to Britain, and celebrate the Queen's personal ties with their people.

They Cambridges were said to be "really excited to be following in the footsteps of the Queen", The Telegraph UK reports.

While their tour is expected to be more modern than the Queens, and much more hands-on, they are expected to meet locals who had seen the monarch visit many years ago.

And that includes hearing first-hand accounts of the moment the Queen ate a rat, served in a stew, offered during an official dinner in Belize in 1985. She later visited again in 1994.

The Queen also travelled to the Bahamas in 1966, 1975, 1977, 1985 and 1994.

Prince Harry was the last senior royal to visit Jamaica during a tour which also included Belize and the Bahamas in 2012.

William and Kate's tour is said to have a strong environmental focus including a visit Coral Vita in the Bahamas, a coral farm focused on reef restoration that was named as one of five winners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize.

The visit will begin on March 19.