The Princess of Wales returned to “duty” on Saturday, being seen at a public event for the first time in nearly six months. She attended Trooping the Colour, having only confirmed her appearance on Friday, an announcement timed for “the last minute.” As I said, this was the best case scenario and one which I repeatedly wished for on this blog – Kate stepping out on the balcony, looking healthy and together. I was surprised that it wasn’t just a quick balcony appearance too – she was photographed in the car with Prince William and their kids, and they also did a little closed-carriage ride through the rain. It was clear that everything had been heavily stage-managed behind the scenes, and all of the palace insiders are briefing everyone that Kate should not be expected to return to any kind of schedule.
As Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast points out though, the palace and the royalists are trying to have it both ways. They’re trying to say that Kate’s big return was the biggest thing that ever happened and Kate saved the monarchy and isn’t it amazing that she looked so great… and they also want to say that Kate still won’t return to work. Sykes sort of skips over the discussion about “what was really going on over the past six months,” but I guess no one is ready to have those conversations.
The royal family’s goal was clear: present the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, to the world, crush the conspiracy theories, and reset the royal narrative ahead of the summer break. Reading the euphoric coverage in British news websites Saturday after Trooping The Color had concluded, palace operatives are no doubt satisfied enough to declare the mission accomplished.
One friend of Kate’s told The Daily Beast: “Catherine has been absolutely amazing. Her statement was extraordinary, and her appearance today was graceful and elegant and has filled people with hope.”
Another royal source said: “She knocked it out of the park. She looked amazing and sent all the right messages. This has been the monarchy’s best day since the Coronation.”
Even the weather co-operated; the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly as the royal family assembled on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to receive the nation’s good wishes on the king’s official birthday. It was impossible for optimists not to see the bright blue sky after a morning of ferocious rain as a metaphor; the royal family, battered by cancer in this year of extraordinary ill-fortune and bad luck, had in the end pulled through.
King Charles was alive, if not looking particularly well (even the determinedly monarchist Daily Telegraph had to concede he looked “a little drained”) shepherding his family to a brighter future. But make no mistake, today was really about Kate, who, against all the odds, pulled off a glitter-canon of a comeback of such stunning, last minute narrative perfection that were it a storyline in a soap opera, it would risk being rejected as implausible.
In briefings, the palace has emphasized to journalists over and over again that Kate’s attendance at Trooping the Color should not be confused with the assumption she is now on a glide path back to public life. And herein lies the fly in the ointment. Having triumphantly proved that Kate is well enough to turn out for hours on end at a ceremonial event, it’s somewhat tricky for the palace to also say she isn’t, that she won’t, for example, attend the Garter Parade or Royal Ascot next week.
Cancer sufferers and their families, of course, will understand. This is the reality of cancer treatment; those “good days” Kate referred to in her statement usually come to patients near the end of each cycle of chemo. But the genie is out of the bottle. Expectations to see Kate back in action will now, unavoidably, build. An awful lot depends, therefore, on exactly what Kate meant by her careful and cautious phrasing when she said, in that unprecedented statement, “I am not out of the woods yet. I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty.”
“But the genie is out of the bottle. Expectations to see Kate back in action will now, unavoidably, build.” Variations of this statement were sort of the reaction across the board – six months of frankenphotos, faked/staged sightings, palace lies, international media outlets calling out the palaces for their lack of credibility, all of those shenanigans and Kate looks pretty much the same and she’s well enough to do all of the Trooping activities? And yet not well enough to return to a normal-for-Kate schedule? By normal-for-Kate, I mean one or two appearances a week? It’s not like she’s ever done hard labor, and clearly, she’s well enough to do assorted busywork events, even if those events are virtual. Why didn’t they have her doing Zoom meetings or making video statements this whole time? Why isn’t that the plan going forward?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
- Catherine The Princess of Wales and Children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis attend the The King’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards Parade, London, England, UK on Saturday 15 June, 2024.,Image: 881844176, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
- Catherine The Princess of Wales attends the The King’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards Parade, London, England, UK on Saturday 15 June, 2024.,Image: 881844185, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
- Catherine The Princess of Wales attends the The King’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards Parade, London, England, UK on Saturday 15 June, 2024.,Image: 881844189, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
- Prince George, Prince Louis, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte on the palace balcony following Trooping the Colour on Saturday 15 June 2024 at Buckingham Palace, London. Trooping the Colour is a traditional parade held to mark the British Sovereign’s official birthday. This year the colours were trooped by The Irish Guards. .,Image: 881850912, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
- Prince George, Prince Louis, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte and King Charles III on the palace balcony following Trooping the Colour on Saturday 15 June 2024 at Buckingham Palace, London. Trooping the Colour is a traditional parade held to mark the British Sovereign’s official birthday. This year the colours were trooped by The Irish Guards. .,Image: 881850919, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
- London, UK. 15th June, 2024. In a mix of torrential rain, thunder & lightning, and finally sunshine, Trooping the Colour for the King’s Official Birthday Parade takes place with Catherine, Princess of Wales, attending. Image: Prince Louis and Catherine, Princess of Wales,Image: 881886646, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: MALCOLM PARK / Avalon
- Catherine Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte photographed on the palace balcony following Trooping of the Colour on Saturday 15 June 2024 at Buckingham Palace, London. Trooping the Colour is a traditional parade held to mark the British Sovereign’s official birthday. This year the colours were trooped by The Irish Guards. .,Image: 881899109, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
- Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis photographed on the palace balcony following Trooping of the Colour on Saturday 15 June 2024 at Buckingham Palace, London. Trooping the Colour is a traditional parade held to mark the British Sovereign’s official birthday. This year the colours were trooped by The Irish Guards. .,Image: 881899137, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
- Prince William of Wales, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis arrive at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour 2024 ceremony, marking the monarch’s official birthday in London. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince Louis and Prince George Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Jun 2024 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
- On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles celebrates his official birthday. Featuring: Prince George, the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis, the Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
There might be expectations but she said recently that she has good days and bad days with a cancer that she doesn’t have so she is letting them know that she will use her non existent cancer as a crutch to get out of “work”.
And with this last outfit, she has officially claimed her Miss Doolittle title 🤣🤣🤣
Excellent! @Swaz
Duchess Dolittle LMAO
Many photos anything but radiant. Hard to keep a fantastic smile when inside she is not happy.
Clearly, Kate is not at death’s door and probably never was. She looks to be capable of much more than she has been doing. Even if she has been undergoing cancer treatment which may or may not be the case, she has been using illness and a vague need for privacy to shirk her responsibilities as a tax supported royal. I call bs on this whole six month long operation.
Yeah they can’t have it both ways. No matter what’s going on, Kate has always been workshy and used her health to get out of things. This is exactly the life Kate and William always wanted, they’ve shamed the press and the people out of asking questions and they have sycophantic media coverage of the little they do.
This has been one of their issues over the last 6 months – they haven’t been able to pick a lane. We are supposed to believe that Kate is so sick she cannot work, can’t even have a zoom meeting, but we are also supposed to believe that she’s doing well and she’s at school events and doing the school run etc.
It’s one or the other and this appearance did not help.
Becks1 that’s always been the problem. Inconsistent and vague messaging topped off with a deceptive fake photo that got marked by major news agencies as propaganda, which is also what happens when principals are lying or trying to cover up a personal event, whatever that might be.
We still have no answers, but there isn’t a good reason why Kate hasn’t been doing a zoom here and there or a photo to thank people given how good she looks and that she has her hair, which were the excuses offered for why she hadn’t.
It’s all about the scar.
And we will never know the true story behind The Scar, until Season X of The Crown comes out.
I mean we all know the palace and the royals use whatever messaging/reality/”truth” suits them at the moment and are unreliable narrators.
But i will give the situation this- i would not want my good days vs bad days to be reported on by the press. That is so invasive. Anything that would be announced, if she got knocked on her a** by preventative chemo and decided to cancel- would be a news story.
By now she knows the routine of the treatment, she will know when the next dose is going to happen, she will also know how long it will make her feel ill, so she also knows when she will be feeling better. She could plan.
She could plan. By now she knows the routine of the treatment, she will know when the next dose is going to happen, she will also know how long it will make her feel ill, so she also knows when she will be feeling better.
Oh yes she could plan. This is Kate 2.0. On good days fun events like Wimbledon and events where she can dress up. On bad days, sorry peasants and lesser mortals can not do anything.
Oh, good grief. Talk about over-the-top exaggeration concerning Kate and her “work”. In any other position on the face of the earth what she has done would be below average for work expectations.
Didn’t we hear that she’s already begun working from home?🙄
If she’s got chemo, they’ll schedule her appearances as far from when she takes the medicine as possible. (So if she gets chemo on Monday, expect her at the end of the week.) Appointments where she sits and presumably less people. Not sure if Ascot or Wimbledon fits that, but the RF has less masking concerns than other people. If it’s something else holding her back, who knows what will happen. I don’t really think she’s going to do much (not that this is unusual) until September.
I feel two ways about this. On one hand, holding her own at the trooping could be similar to Meghan smiling through severe depression and suicidal ideation because it was expected of her. The event might have been very difficult for Kate despite the ‘serene’ face she showed the world.
On the other hand, they have run with the cancer/chemo narrative, and the woman looks great? Full head of hair, full eyebrows? Possibly a wig? I dunno. It is unfortunate that she is too vain to let the world see her as anything but perfect. Assuming she really has been going through cancer treatment, she could have done untold good by sharing parts of her journey.
p.s. That line about her appearance “filling people with hope” is so cringeworthy.
I was totally unaware that chemo delicately plumps up one’s upper lip. Astonishing!
😹
Could it indicate the presence of a threadlift in that area, an attempt to hoist up that area of her face?
So “Kate, against all odds, pulled off a glitter-bomb of a comeback, of such stunning last-minute narrative perfection that were it a storyline in a soap opera, it would risk being rejected as implausible.” Lol, so is that a hint that the whole thing actually does come off as an implausible soap storyline. Bc it really does. The RF soap opera, as ever, full of fake glitter and spectacle.
Reading this i guess I missed the second coming of Christ. And I just thought I saw a well dressed woman waving.
Hahaha so true! I keep saying “she hath risen! The great white hope is back!” That’s where this is going: Kate is Jesus on the cross.
I’m going to ask the obvious here … what work? And they did already say “she’s working from her bed,” which is the biggest load of bull yet in six months.
It’s not my taxes paying for her lifestyle of multiple homes, 60+ employees, private planes and helicopters, so I don’t care if she takes a year off. But aren’t her usual PR stunts less than 30 minutes and not usually announced ahead of time?
Of course Kate is expected to go back to “work” because she looked too good at Trooping. Kate has boxed herself into a corner.
Lol, I read your last sentence as: Kate has botoxed herself into a corner.
😂😂😂
@SussexWatcher I read it the exact same way!!! I didn’t even realized I’d done so until I saw your comment lol.
It’s not that sick people have to look a certain way. I think what caught many of us off guard was that she looked the same as usual, maybe even better. That’s a woman who’s been battling cancer and recovering from major abdominal surgery? Of course it was going to raise some questions.
I’m not sure what I expected from her appearance on Saturday. Maybe for her to be thinner? for her face to be a little more drawn? I don’t know. She looked a little tired, but overall not like someone who can’t do the bare minimum of engagements that is typical for her.
She doesn’t have that ashy pallor that every person I know that has gone through cancer treatments has. Especially standing next to Chuck who is visibly pale and sickly looking.
I think I expected to see her more subdued and less of the constant hyena grinning.
“The best day since the Coronation” 🥴
After the cancer video, I felt so bad about my original idea about why we weren’t seeing her. However, now it (again) seems plausible that it all started with an argument that became physical. Work on her face? Repairs. Thinner? Maybe she couldn’t eat for a bit.
Also, I’m still very intrigued about the story regarding reporters dressed in black back in February?
Also, trying to put my eyes back in place after that eye-rolling article.
I agree Ocean Girl. She dressed well for the Trooping, not in some gaudy brilliant green or red buttony outfit, but at the end of the day she did nothing but ride in a carriage, smile and wave. She’s alarmingly thin and there’s something off about the right side of her mouth, maybe too much botox?
Now I hope my appetite comes back after reading that nauseating article.
She looks like she had work done, for sure. And if the pics of that eye scar are real, then she also had some cosmetic fixes to cover an injury. But could that have been done if she was undergoing cancer treatment? What’s the truth here? Will we ever know? At this point, I’m thinking no, we’ll never know, not until Louis escapes the firm and publishes his tell all.
The press needs to stop comparing Kate to regular cancer patients. Their realities are not the same and it’s annoying that the press continues to portray it that way.
She doesn’t have to go out to work so she can feed her children and pay the rent.
“The press needs to stop comparing Kate to regular cancer patients. Their realities are not the same and it’s annoying that the press continues to portray it that way”.
Seconded.
Whatever. I’m just glad I can go back to commenting what a lazy mean girl she is. All this feeling sympathy for her was starting to wear on me.
Don’t unstrap that belt yet. I believe we’re still in for a roller coaster ride of speculation.
Nooooooooooooo!!!!!
Really, this has open the door to more questions than answers.
Kaiser, I think the “cancer diagnosis” was a double edge sword. For most people its crushing b/c they don’t have the privilege to take as much time off work while not having to worry about their literal livelihood and that of their loved ones in terms of shelter, food, basic needs, etc. This is not even factoring in the mention the astronomical costs for treatment, side effects and mental health aspects.
But what this diagnosis has allowed Kate to do is negotiate for the marriage/arrangement she’s always wanted. She gets to be at home as much as she wants (SAHM) and does below the bare minimum without criticism. The reason I don’t think Kate will ever speak to The Sussexes is the same reason her husband never will; The Sussexes got the life they wanted to live while maintaining their titles. They will never forgive them for that.
Yeah, I think William’s stuck with her. He tried to position himself as a global statesman and manly aviator and dutiful dad, blah, blah, blah – but nothing can counteract the image that he’s just a boring bald guy. And here comes Kate, The Savior of the Monarchy – how can he get rid of her now?
@Eurydice I don’t think W wants to officially divorce at this point. If he does remarry someone who does more work than him they will overshadow him which he cannot tolerate. I think at this point he won’t ever officially divorce her. He will be solo for engagements (for the majority of the time) and she will be at home. KP is setting the expectations for their new normal moving forward.
Release the Camilla Kracken!
LOL! I wonder if that’s why she was so dour on the balcony. She can’t openly attack Kate whilst everyone is propagating the cancer story.
Wow, the number of “friends” of Kate’s that have suddenly crawled out of the woodwork to give comments to the press is astonishing.
I agree with others that it seems that Kate has finally gotten what she’s wanted – an excuse to nothing but the fun and glamorous events. No one to harass her when she disappears from or needs to recuperate in Mustique for months at a time. No more boring visits with the sick or poor. No more travel to CW countries where she’ll be caught flinching from Black people or greeting them through chainlink fences. And big boy global statesman, Willy, will get to parade around pretending he’s a single dad.
Best preventative face lift ever!
lol
And preventative new veneers as well!
When Kate smiles it lights up her face , she looks lovely .
When she doesn’t , her resting face shows unhappiness .
She is a deeply unhappy woman , trapped in a life she wanted but has turned into a living nightmare .
I have absolutely on sympathy at all for her .
Well, she needs to smash those “building expectations.” People should expect nothing from her and when she appears, applaud! SHE is the gift, not anything she could bring to help others. What a crock of shit. So not buying this. Grifters gonna grift.