Kate and Charles: side by side and smiling for the history books
Little happens by accident when it comes to royal pictures and messaging. The sight of Charles shoulder to shoulder with the princess on the Buckingham Palace balcony spoke volumes.
As moments in the royal history books go, it will stake its claim at the top of the pile.
Side by side, against the odds but united by cancer diagnoses and dedication to duty, the King and Princess of Wales appeared together for his birthday parade, Trooping the Colour.
Little happens by accident when it comes to royal pictures and messaging. The sight of Charles shoulder to shoulder with the princess on the Buckingham Palace balcony spoke volumes about his pride in his beloved daughter-in-law. The two shared hospital bedside chats in January when both had treatment that would reveal they had cancer.
In her first official public appearance since Christmas Day – one that seemed unlikely just days ago – the princess looked happy and relaxed, showing no sign of the “harder times” she has spoken of enduring since revealing her cancer diagnosis in March.
Emerging from the Palace in the Glass Coach to loud cheers from the crowds who braced the British weather, torrential rain in mid-June, for a first glimpse of Kate in six months, Team Wales was in high spirits.
In a white Jenny Packham dress with a Philip Treacy hat, Kate was laughing much of the way up The Mall to Horse Guards Parade with Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, who seemed to have his mother and siblings in stitches during their journey.
For his second birthday parade as colonel-in-chief, the King, 75, who is also receiving cancer treatment, made just one small concession to his condition, travelling to and from the parade and reviewing the troops with the Queen in the Scottish State Coach, rather than on horseback.
Last year, he rode Noble, a feisty mare gifted to the King by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who proved a handful for Charles on parade and has been nicknamed “naughty Noble” by some royal watchers.
Taking one for the team, the Princess Royal, 73, a former Olympic equestrian, rode Noble who seems determined to live up to her reputation. Emerging from the Palace spooked and shying, she tested Princess Anne’s skills as the pair navigated the Queen Victoria Memorial in an unscripted jog.In her Blues and Royals uniform, Anne also performed her ceremonial role as Gold Stick in Waiting, tasked with ensuring the personal safety of the monarch.
The hardest worker in the family rode alongside the other royal colonels, the Prince of Wales, 41, in his Welsh Guards uniform and the Duke of Edinburgh, 60, colonel of the Scots Guards, on their calmer RCMP mounts, Darby and St John. At Horse Guards, George, smart in a navy suit and blue tie, Charlotte in a sailor-style dress, and Louis, dapper in shorts, a double-breasted jacket and tie matching his brother’s, watched the immaculate parade of more than 1,250 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians from the Major General’s Office, above the parade ground.rue to form and full of the high jinks that much of the public look forward to, Louis stole the show throughout the morning.
If the Major General’s Office might have felt a little stuffy for the Duchess of Edinburgh, Louis came to the rescue, hoisting open a window with all his might. Soon after, he was spotted fiddling with the blind chains, prompting Clare Balding, on commentary duties for the BBC, to jokingly warn: “Don’t break this.”
Who can blame Louis if, about 38 minutes into an hour-long parade, with a history dating back to 1748, his mind started to wander and he broke into giant yawns. But seven minutes later, he was back on form, shaking his hips, dancing to the jaunty tunes of the massed bands, watched by his mildly disapproving sister.
Later, for the national anthem finale on the balcony, Charlotte was back in bossy big sister mode, instructing her younger brother: “Louis, put your hands down.” In royal circles, Camilla is known as “the Lady Boss”, but Charlotte is coming for her crown.Like his daughter-in-law, Charles showed no signs of cancer treatment, appearing full of stamina, standing for more than 20 minutes on the dais to take the salute as the foot guards and mounted regiments of the Household Cavalry and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery marched and trotted past their colonel-in-chief.It was a particularly proud day for Number 9 Company Irish Guards, as the first time the regiment trooped their colour in front of the monarch for more than 70 years. Adding to their pride, Charles wore an Irish Guards tunic. Kate, their colonel, watched on as Lieutenant General James Bucknall took the salute in her place, as he did last week for the Colonel’s Review, a rehearsal for the Trooping.
Another VIP watching on from a front row of the stands was George Chandler, 98, a D-Day Royal Navy veteran who was wrapped up against the elements in a cagoule, his enthusiasm for the military display undimmed by the dismal weather.
What would a royal parade be without the British weather? Right on cue, as the troops moved off the puddle-soaked parade ground, the wind whipped up and the heavens opened. Camilla, 76, in an Anna Valentine green silk crepe dress, wearing her Grenadier Guards brooch, clinging to her Philip Treacy hat, handbag tucked under her arm, looked ready to be back in her carriage.
No such luck for the soggy royal colonels, who rode back to the palace, though as Anne once said, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
Determined to put a brave face on the rain which also fell on his Coronation parade last year, Charles took a final soggy salute from a dais back at the palace, before heading into the dry. The Mall was transformed into a sea of umbrellas and Union flags, as the crowds surged towards the Victoria Memorial for the traditional royal balcony appearance and fly-past.
After a 41-gun-salute by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Green Park, the British weather took another cue, with blue skies clearing over the Palace as the royal family emerged on to the balcony, Louis stealing the show again, sneezing into the sunlight and performing his best double-handed windscreen wiper wave, to watch the 34-aircraft fly-past.
Like Louis, not everyone stuck to the script. More than 30 protesters from the anti-monarchy group Republic chanted “Not my King” and “Abolish the Monarchy” from The Mall, just audible over the thundering sound of the Chinooks, Typhoons, Red Arrows and cheering crowds. The King was joined on the balcony by the “working” members of his family - the Waleses, the Edinburghs (minus their son the Earl of Wessex, 16, who is doing his GCSEs), Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and the Gloucesters. Some royal watchers had asked if the King might feel “overshadowed” by Kate’s appearance. The Palace said Charles was “delighted”.
But royal actions usually speak louder than words. Last year, Charles stood next to William on the balcony; on Saturday his daughter-in-law was by his side, the pair happily chatting as the Red Arrows’ plumes streaked overhead. Across the pond in sunnier California, the Duchess of Sussex continues to build her American Riviera Orchard homeware and lifestyle brand. Soon after Kate released her deeply personal message on Friday about her recovery, Nacho Figueras, a friend of the Sussexes, posted images of the brand’s raspberry jam and a jar of dog biscuits on his Instagram, with labels that appear to bear Meghan’s handwriting. After abdominal surgery in January and three months of chemotherapy which will continue “for a few more months”, Kate has acknowledged that she is “not out of the woods yet”. In her message the princess said: “On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with ... the things that give me energy and positivity.”
The Sunday Times
