Kate Middleton will not attend the traditional rehearsal for Trooping the Colour on June 8, officials confirmed today in a rare update about the Princess of Wales as she continues her cancer treatment.
According to MailOnline, it has been confirmed the Princess will not attend next week’s Colonel’s Review, and will not take the salute in her role as Colonel of the Irish Guards. MailOnline has said it “understands the attendance of other Royal Family members at Trooping the Colour events will be confirmed nearer the time of each one.”
In recent days, reports about the royal mother-of-three had seemed positive, with sources suggesting she has been seen “out and about more” after “turning a corner” with her preventative chemotherapy.
Yet, Kensington Palace has also stressed the need for “space and time” for Kate Middleton to recover, with sources suggesting earlier this month that she won’t be returning to royal duty till the autumn at the earliest. “No one wants to put any pressure on Catherine,” an insider told MailOnline last week. “The only thing that matters at the moment is her getting better. She has been through an ordeal this year.”
Despite Kate’s absence, the Trooping of the Colour Ceremony is still due to go ahead on June 15. It celebrates the Sovereign’s official birthday and dates back to the seventeenth century. Last year’s event saw King Charles ride on horseback during the parade, marking the first time the reigning monarch has done so since 1986, when Queen Elizabeth II last rode. She later travelled in a carriage (as Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales did at last year’s event). This year, King Charles will travel in a carriage with the Queen amidst his own cancer battle.
