Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, to visit Downton Abbey set

The Duchess of Cambridge, or the royal most commonly called Kate Middleton, is heading to the set of the hit period drama Downton Abbey next week, the palace reported Thursday.

"On Thursday 12th March, The Duchess of Cambridge will visit the set of the award-winning Downton Abbey," announced a message on the officialKensingtonPalace Twitter account.

The Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning period piece, which follows the lives and loves of the Crawley family and its servants in their stately Georgian country house, is filmed intheEalingStudios in west London.

That's where Kate will reportedly watch the filming of ascene that takes place in the servantsquarters.

The 33-year-old pregnant wife of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, will not be trekking out to Highclere Castle in Hampshire where the show's gorgeous exteriors are shot.

Kate will reportedly alsomeet the show's creatorJulian Fellowesand take a tour of the facilities. It is not yet clear which cast memberswillbe invited to participate in the royal visit.

"It's such exciting news," exclaimed a Tweet from ITV's official Downton Abbey account, "we really will be having the #DuchessAtDownton!"

The Duchess's visit comes during an interesting time for fans of the wildly popular drama.

Speculation Downtonis nearly done

Downton's fifth season just wrapped for North American television audiences and comments from actress Maggie Smith have helped fuel speculation that the show will end with season six.

• Maggie Smith to leave Downton Abbey, hints series will end after season 6

The legendary stage and screen actress, who playsthe haughty and formidable matriarch, the dowager Countess ofGrantham, told the Sunday Times newspaper that "I can't see how (Downton) could go on."

Many readers took the comments to mean that Downton Abbey was nearing its end, and that Smith was ready to quit the show. But publicists were quick to counter saying the 80-year-old actress wasmisinterpreted.

The announcement of Kate's high-profile appearance comes just as Prince William completes anhistoricroyal tour of Japan and China.

• PHOTOS| Prince William visits China in high-profile royal tour
• PHOTOS|Duke of Cambridge evokes Diana memories on Japan tsunami trip

While in Japan, the Duke of Cambridge paid his respects at a shrine in Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeast.

In China, hetalked football and illegal wildlife trading with the Chinese president before visiting some of the country's most famous sites.