The Duke of Cambridge was in the Mediterranean nation representing Queen Elizabeth II at the 50th anniversary of Malta's independence.

He went to a Thanksgiving Mass at St John's Cathedral in Valetta, Malta's capital on September 21.

The Prince sat next to the British High Commissioner and a few seats from Malta's president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Principal celebrant at the Mass was Archbishop Paul Cremona of Malta.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said this was the first "public" Mass the Prince has attended.

Aides told media that Prince William might have attended Masses privately in the past.

In a private capacity, Prince William might have attended the Requiem Mass for Frances Kydd, his Catholic maternal grandmother, at the Catholic Cathedral in Oban on June, 2004.

In Malta, Prince William was travelling alone, without his wife, Catherine, and 14-month-old son George.

Catherine, who is pregnant, was supposed to go to Malta on what would have been her first solo official visit.

But she withdrew because of ongoing morning sickness.

At a function with the Maltese president, Prince William apologising to waiting crowds that he was standing in for his wife, but joked that Malta "might not survive baby George".

"There's too many precious things around here," he joked with the president.

Bishop Charles Scicluna, auxiliary bishop of Malta, said: "I told the Duke that the Duchess was very much in our prayers and she has the prayers of the Maltese people."

"It is wonderful time extending one's family. [The Prince] said 'Fingers crossed, she'll be better soon'."

When Prince William ascends the British throne he will inherit the title of supreme governor of the Church of England.

He also has strong Catholic links because he is distantly related to Fr Ignatius (George) Spencer, whose cause for sainthood is presently being considered by the Vatican.

A great-great-great uncle of the Prince's mother, Diana, Fr Spencer was an Anglican vicar before he became a Catholic at the age of 31, then a priest and ultimately a Passionist.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Daily Mail
• Times of Malta
• Image: Royalista

The new legislation will also remove the centuries-old gender discrimination rule that favours first-born sons over older daughters in the order of succession to the throne.

On the day on which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced they are expecting their first child, a government spokesman confirmed that while the new law has not yet been introduced in the British Parliament, it is already de facto law, and William and Kate's first child will be able to succeed to the throne whether it is a girl or a boy.

But the new law — approved by all 16 members of the Commonwealth, including New Zealand — will not allow a Catholic to succeed to the monarchy.

Only Protestant members of the Royal Family who are descendants of Princess Sophia (1630-1714), the Electress of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I, can be king or queen.

Because the monarch is also head of the Church of England, he or she is required to take an oath to defend that church and the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, praised the new legislation.

"This will eliminate a point of unjust discrimination against Catholics and will be welcomed not only by Catholics but far more widely," he said.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II has paid tribute to relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the founding of the Venerable English College in Rome.

In a message on the December 1 Feast of the English Martyrs, she said the college — established in 1362 as a hospice for English pilgrims — is "held in high esteem . . . as a training ground for pastors, priests and future leaders of the Catholic Church of England and Wales".

Sources:

Independent Catholic News

CNN Belief

L'Osservatore Romano

Image: Mirror