Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, smiles during a visit to Canberra, Australia, earlier this year. Photo: Reuters

News that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is expecting her second child has cast doubts over her planned visit to Malta next week for celebrations marking the Golden Jubilee of independence.

A spokeswoman for the British High Commission said that while it was hoped the 32-year-old duchess would go ahead with the trip, a decision was still pending.

“Decisions about future engagements, including the forthcoming visit to Malta [September 20-21], will be made closer to the time, and on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Congratulating the royal couple, the Maltese government said the British government had already been in touch since it was made public yesterday that the duchess was pregnant.

“Due to the duchess’s condition, it is still too early to say what will happen to Her Royal Highness’s visit as the decision will be taken closer to the scheduled date,” the government said in a statement.

The British media reported yesterday that although the pregnancy had not yet reached the 12-week mark, the couple decided to make the announcement as the duchess was due to undertake a series of public engagements in the coming weeks, which are now in doubt.

Like her first pregnancy, the Duchess of Cambridge is suffering from acute morning sickness and is being treated by doctors at her apartments in Kensington Palace.

Her planned engagement with Prince William in Oxford yesterday afternoon was cancelled.

While pregnant with Prince George, now one, the duchess suffered hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition which can lead to severe dehydration and puts both mother and baby at risk of being deprived of essential nutrients. She had been hospitalised with severe vomiting in the private King Edward VII Hospital in central London.

Kate is due to stay at San Anton Palace and visit Valletta, the Grand Harbour and Vittoriosa in what would be her first solo trip overseas.

She is also expected to go on a boat trip in Grand Harbour on the same dgħajsa tal-pass which Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) used to board while living in Malta between 1949 and 1951.