After stepping out with her husband for her first outing of the new year, the Princess of Wales has a solo engagement on the calendar

Prince William and Kate Middleton in March 2025.Credit : Dan Mullan – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty

Kate Middleton is kicking off her new year with bragging rights over Prince William.

The Princess of Wales’ first solo royal duty of 2026 has been revealed, and she will host the England Women’s Rugby team for a reception at Windsor Castle in celebration of their World Cup win in September 2025.

Princess Kate, who has served as the patron of the Rugby Football Union since 2022, will host the team, captained by Zoe Aldcroft, on Thursday, Jan. 15. Players and staff will be given a tour of the royal residence before meeting with the princess, where they will show her the Rugby World Cup trophy and pose for a group photo.

Kate’s role as patron of England rugby — which she took on when Prince Harry’s former patronages were redistributed after he and wife Meghan Markle stepped back from their roles as working royals — puts her in direct competition with Prince William, who is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.

The couple even attended separate matches on the same day at last year’s Rugby World Cup, with Kate cheering on England versus Australia and William supporting Wales in their match against Fiji.

Princess Kate, 44, currently holds the upper hand in the lighthearted sports rivalry. While England was the 2025 World Cup champion and remains the top-ranked women’s rugby team in the world, Wales failed to advance from the pool stage last year and is currently ranked 12th globally.

Prince William and Kate Middleton meet with injured rugby players at the Six Nations match between Wales and England on March 15, 2025.Alastair Grant-WPA Pool/Getty

Kate has also earned the endorsement of the royal family’s very own rugby expert. Mike Tindall, who is married to Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, played professional rugby from 1997 to 2014. His career included 11 years with England’s national team, with whom he won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

These days, Mike hosts a podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, with fellow former player James Haskell and English sports presenter Alex Payne. So, when Kate attended a training session at Twickenham Stadium in 2022 to kick off her role as English rugby patron, they had to weigh in.

“She looks a more natural rugby player than both of you put together,” Alex teased Mike and James.

Mike admitted that he had to agree, despite the fact that he was hoping for some ammunition for the family group chat.

“I text Ellis [Genge] and said, ‘Mate, please tell me anything she messed up on,’ so I could sort of… family WhatsApp group, get to her,” Mike quipped. “And he said, ‘No, she was actually pretty good, and she was really good at kicking,’ and I was like [sigh]. But she has this competitive nature.”

Ultimately, Mike said he was delighted to add the rivalry to the royal family.

“The best thing is when it rolls to England and Wales, we get the battle of the Cambridges,” he said, citing William and Kate’s previous titles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Mike Tindall and Kate Middleton attend Easter service at Windsor Castle on April 21, 2019.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

While the rugby gathering at Windsor Castle will be Princess Kate’s first solo royal engagement of the year, she kicked off 2026 with a joint outing alongside Prince William, 43. The couple visited health workers at London’s Charing Cross Hospital on Jan. 8, speaking with staff and volunteers about the pressures they face during the winter virus season.