Smiling on a float, Princess Catherine, better known by her maiden name, Kate Middleton, made her first official appearance this Saturday in London after the cancer she was diagnosed with in March, on the occasion of the parade for the birthday of King Charles III. .
The last appearance of the 42-year-old Princess of Wales, wife of the heir to the British crown, William, dated back to December. The following month she underwent a mysterious abdominal operation, prior to the announcement of her cancer, of which no details are known.
Kate, dressed in white and with a hat of the same color that partially covered her face, attended the “Parade of the banner” (“Trooping the colour”), a formal event organized since 1748 to celebrate the birthdays of sovereigns.
The princess during her appearance this Saturday.
Photo: EFE – TOLGA AKMEN
The monarch will turn 76 on November 14, but tradition dictates that sovereign anniversaries be celebrated in June, with milder temperatures, despite the fact that this Saturday was a rainy day, with a military parade and an appearance by the royal family on the balcony.
The princess toured the Mall, the main avenue that leads to Buckingham Palace, in a carriage, accompanied by her three children, and then joined the other members of the royal family after the parade and waved from the balcony.
The king, also undergoing treatment for cancer, the details of which are also unknown, also made the journey in a carriage, in a military uniform, accompanied by his wife Camila, and not on horseback as last year.
William on horseback
Her son William, 41, Kate’s husband, also in military uniform, made the journey on horseback, like his uncles, Princes Anne and Edward, from Buckingham Palace, down the Mall to Horse Guards Parade, a large parade square in central London.
Once this first part of the ceremony was over, the members of the royal family returned to Buckingham Palace, where they watched an aerial military parade from the balcony.
Kate, who returned in the same carriage, was smiling and waving to the crowd.
On the balcony, behind her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, Kate spoke animatedly with King Charles III, located to her left.
The popular Princess of Wales had announced her attendance at the event on Friday after indicating that she is “making good progress, but as anyone who goes through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days.”
The news was greeted with joy and relief among Britons present Saturday morning near Buckingham Palace to attend the parade.
“I was very happy to hear the news,” an enthusiastic Angela Perry, a teacher who came from Reading, west of London, told AFP. “She is our future queen, she is very important,” she insisted.
Nicky Weech, a bank employee, came to see “the show.” “We wish him good luck,” she added.
The message issued by the princess on Friday was accompanied by a photograph of her in front of a tree next to a river, taken earlier in the week in Windsor, west of London.
“My treatment continues and will continue for a few more months. On bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to let your body rest. But in the good times, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling good,” she wrote.
Anti-monarchy protesters
Anti-monarchist protesters were mixed among the crown’s followers, carrying small yellow flags with the slogan “Not my king.”
Kate announced on March 22 in a video that she had been diagnosed with cancer, of which she did not give details. She thus ended two months of speculation about her health after undergoing the “abdominal” operation.
It was the second blow for the British royal family, less than two months after Charles III was diagnosed with cancer. The king had announced his illness on February 5.
Carlos III resumed his public activities at the end of April after the announcement of the cancer for which he has been receiving treatment. His doctors declared themselves “encouraged” by the progress made against the disease.
