- Princess Kate appears at Trooping the Colour
- First public appearance since cancer diagnosis
- Royal family joins King for birthday parade
The Princess of Wales appeared comfortable, and onlookers applauded her and her family as they walked down The Mall and subsequently onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The Princess of Wales joined the Royal Family on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for the Trooping the Colour flypast, marking her first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis.
Kate, 42, arrived at Buckingham Palace in a car with her children and husband, the Prince of Wales, ahead of the event commemorating the King’s formal birthday.
Crowds lined The Mall to cheer on the princess, who has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February, and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, as they departed the palace in a carriage for the event.
The future Queen appeared comfortable as she drove her family down one of London’s most famous thoroughfares in a carriage.
She could be seen laughing and conversing with her children in the carriage before they arrived at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.
William rode horseback in the procession with the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The King, also having cancer treatment, travelled in a carriage with the Queen, a change from last year due to his sickness, and inspected the officers and guardsmen from the coach rather than on horseback.
Louis was the first to disembark when the royal carriages eventually stopped, followed by his older brother George and sister Charlotte.
Kate finally stepped down as the regiment’s colonel, dressed in a Jenny Packham frock, a Philip Treacy hat, and the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch.
Kate and her children watched the military display, popularly known as the Birthday Parade, from a balcony in the Duke of Wellington’s former office, in contrast to the previous year when she joined senior family members on a dais.
Prince Louis, six, appeared distracted by a blind string and yawned while watching the procession before dancing along during the Scots Guards’ rapid March to Highland Laddie.
Heavy rain fell as the royal procession returned to Buckingham Palace, but the King and Queen, as well as Kate and her children, were safe in their covered carriage.
Princess Charlotte, nine, grinned and waved heartily to the spectators who braved the downpour, as did her brothers to the sea of umbrellas along The Mall.
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute in neighbouring Green Park, and Kate and her family joined the King and Queen, as well as other royals, on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the RAF flypast.
They grinned and waved to the people before standing firmly as the national song played, and the flypast concluded with the Red Arrows trailing their signature red, white, and blue.
Kate remarked ahead of the event: “I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to participate in a few public engagements this summer, but I’m also aware that I’m not out of the woods yet.
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“I’m learning to be patient, particularly when faced with uncertainty.
“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
Her appearance was in jeopardy when she skipped the final Trooping rehearsal last weekend.
Kate’s first public appearance of 2024 comes after she missed engagements at the start of the year due to an abdominal procedure.
Kate’s ailment was assumed to be non-cancerous at the time, but tests following the successful surgery revealed the disease, and she revealed the diagnosis in March.
There has yet to be a definite date for Kate’s comeback to a full schedule of public appearances.
