The annual event is a show of unity for the British monarchy after months in which both King Charles and Kate, wife of heir to the throne, Prince William, have been out of many public events due to cancer treatment.
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“I’m making good progress, but as anyone who undergoes chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” Kate said in a statement, adding that she faces “a few more months” of treatment.
The 42-year-old princess traveled in a horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace along the large avenue known as the Mall with her children George, 10, Charlotte, 9, and Louis, 6. Passers-by cheered at the sight of Kate, dressed in a white dress by designer Jenny Packham and a wide-brimmed hat by Philip Treacy.
Credit: Alberto Pezzali/AP
He watched the ceremony with children from the window of a building overlooking Horse Guards Parade, a ceremonial parade ground in central London. Louis yawned widely at one point during the procedure, but for the most part he watched intently.
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The princess has not made any public appearance since December. Kate said in her statement that she is “not out of the woods yet” and officials emphasize that Saturday’s engagement does not herald a full return to public life.
Huge crowds come each June to watch the parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, which begins with a procession involving horses, musicians and hundreds of soldiers in ceremonial uniform from Buckingham Palace.
Prince William, in military uniform, rode out for the ceremony, in which the troops in their ceremonial best parade before the king with the flag or “color” of their regiment. The display of precise marches and martial music comes from the days when a regiment’s flag was an essential rallying point in the fog of battle.
King Charles’ cancer
Credit: Alberto Pezzali/AP
Carlos, who is also being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, He traveled in a carriage with Queen Camilla, instead of on horseback, as he did last year. The king watched the troops from a dais on the parade ground, saluting as the elite regiments marched.
Five regiments take turns parading in their colour, and this year it was the turn of a company of the Irish Guards, which has Kate as its honorary colonel. The troops, dressed in scarlet robes and bearskin hats, were led onto the parade ground by their mascot, an Irish wolfhound named Seamus.
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Carlos, 75, revealed his cancer in February and has recently returned to his public duties. Last week he attended commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 6, 1944.
In one of the many peculiarities of British royal conventions, Saturday is not the king’s actual birthday, but in November. Like his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, before him, Charles has his official birthday on the second Saturday in June. The date was chosen because the weather is generally good, although Saturday’s early sunshine gave way to a windy and rainy day in London.
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The rain was kept at bay for most of the ceremony, but began to pour down as massed troops escorted the royal carriages back to Buckingham Palace, to cheers from sodden but enthusiastic crowds.
Several hours before the start time, royal supporters with raincoats and umbrellas had already gathered along the route, along with a handful of anti-monarchy protesters chanting “Not my king.”
In video: This was the public reappearance of King Carlos III after his cancer diagnosis
