By Jill Lawless – The Associated Press
The United Kingdom celebrated the birthday of King Charles III on Saturday with a military parade that represented the first public appearance of the Princess of Wales since her cancer diagnosis was announced a few months ago, a day after announcing that her treatment ” progressing well.”
The annual event was also a sign of stability on the part of the monarchy after months in which both the king and Kate Middleton, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, have been away from the public to undergo cancer treatments.
The princess joined other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the king’s Birthday Parade. Family and crowds gathered outside the palace watched a flyover of military aircraft to conclude the monarch’s official birthday ceremonies.
Kate announced on Friday that she was attending the king’s birthday celebrations after making progress in her treatment. In March, the princess announced that she was going to receive chemotherapy to treat an unspecified type of cancer. It was her first public appearance since December.
“I’m making good progress, but as anyone who goes through chemotherapy knows, there are good days and bad days,” Catalina 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 to the grand avenue known as The Mall accompanied by her children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. Passers-by cheered Kate, who wore a dress by designer Jenny Packham and a wide-brimmed hat by Philip Treacy.
[Investigan intento de robo del historial clínico de la princesa Kate Middleton por un empleado del hospital donde se operó]
The princess watched the ceremony with children from the window of a building overlooking Horse Guards Parade, a ceremonial parade in central London. Louis yawned widely at one point during the event, but overall he watched intently.
Kate noted in her statement that “I am not out of the woods yet,” and officials said her presence at Saturday’s event does not mean the princess will fully return to public life.
Huge crowds gather each June to watch the parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, which begins with a procession involving horses, musicians and hundreds of soldiers dressed in full dress uniforms leaving Buckingham Palace.
Prince William, dressed in military uniform, attended the ceremony on horseback, in which troops dressed in ceremonial finery parade before the king with the flag of their regiment, or “color.” The display of precision marches and martial music has its origins in the days when a regiment’s flag was an essential rallying point in the fog of battle.
Charles, who is also receiving treatment for an unspecified type of cancer, traveled by carriage with Queen Camilla, rather than on horseback, as he did last year. The king inspected the troops from a dais in the parade ground, saluting as the elite regiments of the Foot Guard passed by.
Five regiments take turns parading with their colours, and this year it was the turn of a company of the Irish Guards, which has Kate as an honorary colonel. The troops, dressed in scarlet tunics and bearskin hats, were led to the parade ground by their mascot, an Irish wolfhound named Seamus.
Carlos, 75, revealed his cancer in February, and has recently returned to his public duties. Last week he attended events commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 6, 1944.
In one of the many quirks of British royal conventions, Saturday is not the king’s actual birthday, which is in November. Like his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles officially has his birthday on the second Saturday in June. The date was chosen because the weather is usually good, although Saturday’s sunshine gave way to a rainy day in London.
The rain did not make an appearance for most of the ceremony, but began to pick up as troops escorted the royal carriages back to Buckingham Palace, to the cheers of a soaked but enthusiastic crowd.
Royal supporters with raincoats and umbrellas had already gathered along the route several hours before the start time, along with a handful of anti-monarchy protesters chanting “Not my king.”
Spectators enjoyed a display of pomp and precision involving 1,400 soldiers, 250 military musicians and more than 200 horses. Among the participating equines were Trojan, Tennyson and Vanquish, three of the five military horses that caused chaos in April when they bolted and ran loose through central London.
The horses were undergoing routine exercises near Buckingham Palace on April 24 when they were frightened by noise from a nearby construction site and galloped loose through the streets of the capital, crashing into vehicles and causing chaos during rush hour. tomorrow.
According to the military, the other two horses are recovering well and are expected to return to service.
