Newlyweds back in their Welsh hideaway

London: As Britain goes back to work today still buzzing with the excitement of the royal wedding, Prince William and his bride, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will be back at their rented farmhouse on the Welsh island of Anglesey trying to restore a semblance of normality to their lives.

Following their announcement of a delayed honeymoon, the newly-weds will settle into married life in the intimacy of the home they have shared since last year, away from the glare of the media.

The prince is expected to return to his duties as an RAF Search and Rescue helicopter pilot as early as today, giving him a chance to let the royal wedding circus die down before taking his bride on a more relaxing break.

Although the Duchess, as a member of the Royal family, now has a duty to carry out public engagements, St James's Palace made it clear on Sunday that she will be eased into the role slowly.

Support her husband

For now, her job will be restricted to that of a consort to her husband. A spokesman for St James's Palace said: "The Duchess's work within the Royal family initially will be to support her husband with his long-standing patronages and other official duties, and, like any member of the Royal family, to support The Queen at home and abroad."

Prince William is expected to spend another two years based at RAF Valley on Anglesey. Because he has a full-time job, he carries out a limited number of official engagements at home and abroad, meaning his new wife will have time to settle into life as a member of the Royal family before she is expected to increase her workload.

The Royal Household has learnt from the experience of Diana, Princess of Wales, who told her biographer Andrew Morton that after her own marriage: "One minute I was nobody, the next I was Princess of Wales, mother, media toy, member of the family, you name it, and it was just too much for one person at the time."

Prince William has decided to follow the model set by his grandmother, the Queen, who spent some of the happiest years of her marriage living quietly on Malta, where the Duke of Edinburgh was based as a naval officer.

Prince William and his wife have no staff at their farmhouse in Wales, apart from royal protection officers, and cherish the privacy their lifestyle gives them. The couple are not expected to carry out any official duties before their tour of Canada at the end of June, although they will be seen in public at the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th birthday celebrations and Trooping The Colour in June.

They are also expected to fit in their delayed honeymoon before they depart for Canada, leaving little or no time for any official duties. As life gets back to normal after the wedding, the Queen will visit a day centre in Newmarket, Suffolk, today, the Duke of Edinburgh will be in King's Lynn, Norfolk, the Earl of Wessex will carry out four engagements in Staffordshire, and the Princess Royal is going to Jersey.