One of my minor conspiracies is that the focus and emphasis on the Princess of Wales’s rare public appearances purposefully overshadows whatever is going on with Prince William. Just looking at the pair of them, you would think William is the one who has had health struggles in the past year. Here are more photos of William and Kate on Tuesday, as they did the daytime events together as part of the Qatari royals’ state visit. William was Lurch-ing out but no one noticed because all eyes were on Kate. Anyway, this is apparently the new normal for the Windsors, per Becky English at the Mail. She wrote a long-winded piece about how people should stop expecting so much from all of the Windsors.

After the year they have had, it was probably as close to the ‘new normal’ for the Royal Family that we are going to get, for the time being at least. Naturally all eyes were on the Princess of Wales as she returned to the public eye in her most significant official role since she effectively withdrew from royal life at the start of the year following her shock cancer diagnosis. Her warm smile and dazzling sense of style made us all realise how much Kate had been missed, even if this particular princess wasn’t quite up to going to ‘the ball’ (aka the State Banquet).

MailOnline understands that this is all part of her ‘gradual’ and measured return to work, balancing her commitments generally, but also specifically this week between the State Visit and her own annual carol service on Friday. It was still a tonic, however, to see her looking so happy and well, Prince William just once discreetly laying a comforting hand on her shoulder but otherwise happily letting his wife get on with what she does best – shine.

[These tweaks to the state visit protocol] might seem insignificant to the untrained eye, but in royal parlance it’s these tiny details that often paint the bigger picture. It’s important to stress that this is not a portrait of doom and gloom – far from it… it is utterly remarkable that within less than a year of these seismic – and potentially catastrophic – events that we have almost all members of our Royal Family on duty simultaneously at such a diplomatically crucial event.

But it does also go to emphasise that, for the time being at least, we may have to cut them a little slack. A source tells me: ‘It’s just a question of adaptions given the particular challenges of this year. I don’t think this is a sign of things to come but it is necessity of where we find ourselves at this moment in time.’

Indeed, at a time when recent discussions have focused more heavily than ever on both the function of our monarchy, as well as its funding, yesterday’s State Visit has emphasised more than ever why it is still, in diplomatic terms, our trump card. One senior Qatari diplomat told me recently that we should not underestimate the importance that their Emir, – was educated in the UK and commissioned at the Sandhurst military college, and could be seen beaming from ear-to-ear throughout the day – has placed upon it. Indeed, it is considered something of a coup for his country to be the first Middle Eastern state to be afforded the honour.

This is of no small significance in Whitehall where mandarins appreciate more than anyone the importance of the longevity of the Royal Family’s friendship with countries such as Qatar (which is currently heavily investing in British science and technology) particularly given the level of political instability we have seen in the UK in recent years.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, from a larger diplomatic sense, the state visit was genuinely successful. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was very pleased with his reception, King Charles was genuinely a congenial host, and there were no major or minor diplomatic incidents. It also feels like the lack of diplomatic incidents was contingent on William and Kate both being seen and not heard. William was like the man who wasn’t there – ignored during the day because of Kate’s appearance, and ignored during the state banquet because no one gives a sh-t about him.

A lot of people are talking about this video too – William swaying a bit at the welcome ceremony/parade. Remember his swaying & butterfingers in February? Yeah. I suspect both William AND Kate took something or drank something to take the edge off.

The Princess of Wales joined Prince William and King Charles in welcoming the Emir of Qatar on a state visit to the UK.

Queen Camilla missed the welcome ceremony because of "lingering side effects" from a chest infection.https://t.co/dXAguBCarI pic.twitter.com/xYsuaqLntq

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 3, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.