Princess Catherine won’t be back in public for months
After a hugely welcomed first public appearance since Christmas Day, the Princess of Wales will not be returning to frontline duties, palace aides say.
Princess Catherine was the remarkable trouper at the King’s official birthday parade, the Trooping of the Colour, but she is expected to retreat back to her country estate in Norfolk for further cancer treatment and rehabilitation in the months ahead.
After a hugely welcomed first public appearance since Christmas Day, the Princess of Wales will not be returning to frontline duties, palace aides said. After clearing her diary for the entire year, Catherine, 42, is focused on getting well.
On Friday, she said she was not out of the woods yet, and that she has good days and bad.
The only event in the English summer that she has a deep connection to is Wimbledon and it would not be a surprise if she made a last-minute decision “on a good day” to turn up to SW19 to watch a set or three.
Or if the miserable English summer weather continues, she could take the option most would chose in her situation and tuck up on the couch and watch it on television.
On Saturday, Catherine initially appeared washed out under heavy makeup as she rode with her three children in a glass carriage to the Horse Guards Parade.
She looked to have perked up considerably by the time of the Buckingham Palace balcony appearance.
That she made such an effort to turn up and support the King, whose own frailty was on display with his inspection of the troops in a carriage instead of on horseback, reinforced to everyone Catherine’s strong sense of duty.
It also helped reassure 10-year-old Prince George, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, six, that she is there for them at important moments.
The crowd, drenched in bursts of heavy rain, was thrilled.
In a nod to Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Catherine was immaculate in a slim fitting white dress with black and white bow and with her hair braided underneath a large hat, tilted to the right.
That meant that for the all-important balcony wave, where Catherine was next to the King – the two of them bonding intensely over the past months during their health challenges – her face was unobstructed, and she was beaming.
Queen Camilla and Prince William were supportive, and the indefatigable Princess Anne and Prince Edward were there too, alongside the King’s niece Lady Louise, 20, indicating perhaps that she may take on further royal duties once her university studies at St Andrews University are completed.
The populace’s unbridled affection for Charles and Catherine further distanced the wayward Montecito couple, Prince Harry and Meghan.
However in a remarkable coincidence, a close friend of the couple, Nacho Figures, promoted two product lines of Meghan’s home-style venture just hours before the Trooping was to begin.
The products? Raspberry jam and dog biscuits.
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