LONDON (AP) — Britain held a military parade Saturday to mark King Charles III’s birthday, marking the Princess of Wales’ first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
The annual event is also a sign of stability in the royal family after both the king and Kate, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, have been away for several months to undergo cancer treatment.
Kate joined other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the King’s Birthday Parade, while members of the royal family and a crowd outside the palace watched a military plane flyover to conclude the monarch’s official birthday celebrations.
Prince William and Princess Kate wave to the crowds on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with their children Prince George (left), Prince Louis (front row, center) and Princess Charlotte after the Military Flag Ceremony in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzari)
Kate announced on Friday that she would attend the royal birthday celebrations because her treatment was going well. She revealed in March that she was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified type of cancer. It was her first public appearance since December.
“I am recovering well but, as anyone undergoing chemotherapy knows, there are good days and bad days,” Kate said in a statement, adding that her treatment will continue for “several more months”.
The 42-year-old princess travelled in a horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace along the boulevard known as the Mall with her children George, 10, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six. Passersby cheered when they saw Kate in a white dress by designer Jenny Packham and a wide-brimmed Philip Treacy hat.
Britain’s Princess Kate of Wales waves as she walks with Prince Louis down The Mall to attend the Royal Flag Service at Horse Guards Parade in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzari)
She watched the ceremony with her children from a window in a building overlooking Horse Guards Parade in central London, and most of them watched intently, though Prince Louis yawned loudly once during the ceremony.
Kate said in a statement that she is “not out of the woods yet,” and sources stressed that Saturday’s engagement does not mark a full return to royal duties.
Every June, crowds gather to watch the parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, which begins with a procession of horses, musicians and hundreds of soldiers in ceremonial uniform marching from Buckingham Palace.
Royal fans hold umbrellas in the rain as they wait for the start of the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzari)
Prince William rode horseback to the ceremony in full military uniform, where troops paraded before the King in full ceremonial dress and bearing their regimental colors, or “standards.” The precise marching and military music comes from a time when the regimental colors were important rallying points in the fog of war.
Prince Charles, who is also undergoing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer, traveled in a carriage with Camilla rather than riding a horse as he did last year. The monarch inspected the troops from a high platform on the parade grounds and saluted as the elite Household Guards marched by.
Each of the five regiments takes turns marching under the flag, and this year it was the turn of a company of the Irish Guards, of which Kate is an honorary colonel. Dressed in crimson tunics and bearskin hats, the soldiers took to the field led by their mascot, Seamus the Irish wolfhound.
Prince Charles, 75, announced his cancer in February and has slowly returned to public duties in recent days, including last week attending ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Britain’s King Charles III rides in a carriage with Queen Camilla to attend the Marching in the Colour ceremony in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. The Marching in the Colour is the King’s Birthday Parade and is one of Britain’s most impressive and iconic annual events, attended by nearly the entire royal family. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Among many quirks of British royal custom, Saturday is not the King’s real birthday; it’s in November. Like his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles’ official birthday is the second Saturday in June. The date was chosen because the weather is generally good there, although Saturday was sunny in London early in the morning before turning windy and rainy later in the day.
Although the rain barely fell during the ceremony, it began to fall heavily as the assembled soldiers escorted the royal carriage to Buckingham Palace, cheering from the drenched but enthusiastic crowd.
Hours before the start, royal fans wearing raincoats and umbrellas were already gathering along the route, along with a small number of anti-royalty protesters chanting “Not my king”.
Soldiers of the Irish Guards march along The Mall to take part in the flag-raising ceremony in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzari)
Spectators were treated to a spectacular and elaborate spectacle featuring 1,400 soldiers, 250 military bands and more than 200 horses, including Troian, Tennyson and Vanquish – three of the five war horses that ran wild and caused chaos in central London in April.
Two mounted police officers from the Welsh Guards take part in a flag-raising ceremony in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzari)
On April 24, the horses were on their usual exercise near Buckingham Palace when they were startled by noise from a nearby construction site and ran into cars, causing chaos during the morning rush hour.
The other two horses are recovering well and are expected to return to duty, according to the Army.
