THE British royal couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton look likely to travel to Cork within the next three months.

The visit is expected to be part of a two-day visit to Ireland that would include three stops; one in Cork, another in Dublin and possibly a third unknown location.

It is reported that discussions are in the early stages with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and it is hoped that the tour would be a distraction from the shock announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that they were stepping down as ‘senior royals’.

According to reports, Prince William and Kate Middleton are quite keen to visit Cork, following the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth in May 2011.

The royal couple has previously visited Northern Ireland twice in recent years.

Prince William and Kate Middleton will be following in the footsteps of Meghan and Harry, who visited Ireland on their first official trip in 2019, and Charles and Camilla who have visited Ireland five times since 2015.

In 2011, Queen Elizabeth visited the English Market and in 2015, Charles and Camilla visited City Hall, the English Market, UCC, the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind training centre, the National Maritime College of Ireland, and the Irish Naval Service headquarters in Haulbowline, before returning to the city for a VIP dinner in the evening.

After the visit of Charles and Camilla, there was political outrage at the cost of their visit on the city, which was left with a €200,000 bill.

The bill for the one-day visit included some €6,000 on food and drinks for a civic reception at City Hall and almost €20,000 on a VIP dinner. Their visit to Cork and Kerry also totted up a €1.3 million garda policing bill.