The Princess of Wales attended the King’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) yesterday alongside the Prince of Wales and their three children, Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte.
It was Princess Catherine’s first public engagement since Christmas Day 2023, following major abdominal surgery and her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
The Princess has been very open about her diagnosis, and on Friday, she released a short statement to share how she was doing and announce that she would be in attendance at Trooping the Colour.
With the Princess being Britain’s most loved member of The Royal Family, and her husband a close second, this news was greatly received by the public and press alike.
She said: "I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days.”
Despite being “not out of the woods yet”, she informed the public that she hopes to attend a handful of engagements over the summer.
Trooping the Colour is always a big occasion in the UK, and one that is greatly anticipated. Thousands flock to Buckingham Palace in central London to catch a glimpse of the royal procession, with millions more watching from home.
As Colonels of the Welsh Guards, Scots Guards, and Blues and Royals, Princes William and Edward, and the Princess Royal rode on horseback down the Mall.
Usually, HM The King rides alongside them, but since his cancer diagnosis, it was announced he would instead travel by carriage with his wife, Queen Camilla.
Trooping the Colour was first introduced by King George III in the 1700s to combine his birthday celebrations with a ceremonial military parade.
The event happens on the third Saturday in June each year and always takes place at Horse Guards Parade. The only exceptions were in 2020 and 2021, where Covid-19 restrictions limited the event to Windsor Castle. The late Queen Elizabeth was in attendance, however there were no spectators.
In typical British fashion, rain poured down, but with just minutes until the balcony appearance and RAF flypast, the clouds dispersed revealing a glorious blue sky.
The Royal Family grouped onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace at roughly 1 pm for the flypast, which included 34 aircraft, culminating with the iconic Red Arrows painting the sky red, white and blue.
This year, the Irish Guards trooped their colour, the regiment Princess Catherine is Colonel of. Before the Colonel’s Review on the 8th of June, Catherine wrote a letter to the Major General about how “proud” she was of everyone and that being their Colonel is “a great honour”.
The Princess of Wales shared her cancer diagnosis in March this year in a very moving video. Since then, millions of people from across the world have posted comments, written letters, and shared their own experiences with the disease.
Prince William returned to royal duties after Easter, and a spokesperson said on Friday that he is “pleased to see The Princess starting to engage with the work and projects that are important to her” and that “he will continue to focus his time on supporting his wife and children”.
Photo credit: James Manning/ GettyImages
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