DHAKA: He may still be in nappies but Prince George embarks on his first official tour this weekend as Britain’s younger royals ride a wave of popularity that is expected to dampen republican movements in Australia and New Zealand.

The eight-month-old prince, third-in-line to the British throne, will accompany his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on a three-week tour of the two former British colonies.

His first official event is expected to be at a parent and baby group on April 9 at Government House in Wellington, the New Zealand capital, the residence where his father, Prince William, crawled for the first time during a royal tour in 1983.

Prince William and his wife Kate will also mark a century since the outbreak of World War One by paying tribute to both countries’ war dead before leaving on April 25, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1820 HRS, APR 03, 2014