As a meaningful celebration of the King’s official birthday, Trooping the Colour was a joyous occasion for every Brit. The delight was even bigger because of the presence of the Princess of Wales, who made her first public appearance in six months.
A day before the celebration, Kate posted a photo of herself and thanked everyone for their kind messages, saying it made the world of difference to her and William and helped them both through some of the harder times.
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well,” Kate wrote.
“My treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home.”
“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet.”
She ended her post writing, “I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal. Thank you so much for your continued understanding, and to all of you who have so bravely shared your stories with me.”
Kate appeared as stunning as ever. She waved the crowd and smiled, looking beautiful. However, according to a body language expert, the princess was in fact nervous.
“Princess Catherine’s closed-mouth smile as she arrives in the car with her family indicates that she is being cautious,” royal expert Inbaal Honigman told the Daily Star.
“Compared with previous years, where the Princess would flash a wholehearted, toothy smile of happiness, this occasion reveals a more careful Catherine, smiling with her lips, cheeks and eyes, but not with her teeth. This demonstrates caution, but there are signs that her happiness is genuine.”
The body language expert concluded: “The raised eyebrows when she smiles, suggest that she is happy, even excited, and as she peeks out of the car, we can see that she’s glad to connect with the expecting crowds outside. Her shoulders are slightly raised, which suggests that she’s nervous.”
On the balcony, Kate was in the presence of her husband, her children, King Charles, and Queen Camilla. She and William were photographed smiling at each other.
While Kate was elegant and calm, she knew the day was not about her but about King Charles, and she acted accordingly. “In a tradition created by her husband’s granny, Kate’s body language here showed the world what being a royal is all about: elegant, calm, and stoic with not one smallest jot of self-pity or drama,” Judi James told The Sun.
“Kate’s non-verbal messages seem to signal a smiling determination to reassure the public and her own children and to get on with the job. She made it clear in her written message that this is a step towards a return, not the start of it but even from the glimpses of her in the carriage her upright back and her signature smile showed a desire to show resilience and poise.”
James added, “Her wave to the crown involved closed rather than spread fingers and it was a quick, subtle movement of acknowledgement, again suggesting a desire to avoid stealing the attention on the celebration of the King’s birthday.”
While the general public had the impression that their beloved princess was doing well, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl, Kate is not fully recovered.
Reportedly, Kate sat down when she could but she felt like she needed to be there to support her father-in-law.
“The princess has this sort of swan-like quality about her — she’s sort of gliding on the surface — but beneath the water, I think often she’s paddling quite frantically,” Katie Nicholl told ET Online. “I can only imagine that a huge amount of preparation and time and effort and energy will have gone into Saturday’s appearance.”
“She was on her feet for a long period of time. There was a moment where she was watching the parade… and was offered a seat, which she gratefully accepted. That’s just a bit of an acknowledgment that she is not as strong, not as fit, as she was before she went into this treatment.
“I think a day like Saturday, where she knows the eyes of the world are on her, there is a huge amount of scrutiny that will take its toll,” Katie Nicholl continued. “I think we can probably imagine that she probably had a long and well-deserved rest afterward, I don’t think we can expect to see her in public for a little while. That’s going to take some recovery from.”
She concluded, “I think she felt very much that she needed to be there. The children looked so happy and relaxed having their mother there… It was important, I think, for the Princess of Wales to be there to support her father-in-law, to be there for her family, and to be there for the nation to send out a really important message that she’s doing OK.”