Catherine, Princess of Wales, appeared in public on Saturday for the first time since her cancer diagnosis, smiling while riding in a carriage with her three children as she took part in a ceremonial parade to celebrate the birthday of her father-in-law, King Charles III.
Crowds gathered in central London to watch as the princess and her family participated in an event full of military tradition, music and pageantry, dampened only slightly by a light rain that turned into a downpour as the ceremonies concluded.
Her appearance was welcomed as a sign of improvement in her medical condition and a significant moment for the British royal family, which suffered another blow this year when King Charles announced that he, too, had cancer.
However, when announcing late on Friday that she was well enough to attend the events on Saturday, the princess made it clear that her recovery still had some way to go.
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” Catherine, 42, said in a statement released to the news media. “On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting,” she added. “But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well.”
Catherine rode with her three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — in a state carriage to watch the military parade. She waved occasionally on the short carriage ride before moving to watch the ceremony from an indoor vantage point. Later, there were cheers from the crowd when she appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside her children and other members of the royal family to watch a Royal Air Force flyby.
Earlier, her husband, William, Prince of Wales, who is colonel of the Welsh Guards, wore their ceremonial uniform and was on horseback. The princess, who is colonel of the Irish Guards, which played a prominent role in the parade, wore a white dress with black trim by Jenny Packham, a hat by Philip Treacy and the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch.
Catherine was hospitalized for abdominal surgery in January, and until Saturday she had not been seen at an official event this year. In March, she said publicly that she was undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.
In another sign of her progress, her office said she had started to work occasionally from home and was meeting with her official teams when she felt able. The princess also said in her statement that she hoped to join some public engagements during the summer, while adding that she “is not out of the woods yet.”
Evidence of her recovery will be especially welcome to Britain’s royal family, given that her health issues coincided with those of King Charles, who was treated for cancer in January. He has started his return to public life, and last week he attended ceremonies in France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that presaged the end of World War II.
On Saturday, Charles, who celebrated his 75th birthday in November, rode in a carriage rather than on horseback, as is typical during the procession, which is known as the Trooping the Color.
The event, which has been an official celebration of the monarch’s birthday for more than 260 years, is based around a parade that starts at Buckingham Palace and then travels along the Mall, decorated by flags, to Horse Guards Parade, a ceremonial parade ground by St. James’s Park, before heading back to the palace.
After arriving at Horse Guards Parade, the king inspected the troops, who wore the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats. Among the spectators watching the intricate military ceremony were Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty.
The celebration also featured a 41-gun salute in Green Park.
The parade included about 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians and 200 horses — including three from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment that ran away and were injured in April during a rehearsal.