Kate to miss royal engagement as she continues cancer treatment – but Charles will be at Trooping the Colour
The Princess of Wales will not be returning to public duties for the Colonel’s Review next month, it has been revealed, but King Charles will take part in the Trooping the Colour.
The annual event has marked the official birthday of the King or Queen for more than 260 years and will take place on 15 June.
The confirmation comes after Buckingham Palace was forced to cancel and review dozens of royal engagements after the General Election was called for July 4.
Charles has recently returned to public-facing duties while still receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer and will now take part in one of the highlights of the royal calendar.
The Princess of Wales will not be returning to public duties for the Colonel’s Review after some speculation she would be well enough to take part.
As colonel in chief of the Irish Guards, a role the Princess was given in 2023, she would be expected to take the salute.
The celebration, which traditionally involves the royal family gathering on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a display of pomp and military pageantry, will be held on June 15.
While the King has been confirmed to take part in the ceremony, he will inspect the soldiers from a carriage as opposed to on horseback, which he did last year.
During the ceremony, which takes place on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall, it is understood the King will carry out the review of the Guardsmen and officers from an Ascot Landau carriage with the Queen.
The change reflects earlier Buckingham Palace briefings where it was highlighted that each engagement by the King would be reviewed and adaptations made when advised by doctors.
The King had been carrying out a busy programme of engagements since it was announced just over four weeks ago would be returning to public-facing duties.
Rishi Sunak’s decision last week to call a surprise summer General Election has meant the monarchy has postponed any engagements “which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign”.
Charles is likely to travel by carriage with the Queen during the traditional procession to and from Horse Guards Parade and is expected to watch the Trooping ceremony seated on a dais with the Queen, rather than on horseback.
The King and Queen attended their first public engagement since the election was announced yesterday, visiting a prestigious drama school in London.
David Harewood, the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), praised the King for his recent patronage of the school – a role previously held by his mother Queen Elizabeth.
Harewood said: “I think drama is dropping off the school syllabuses right now, which is really sad to see, so to have [a] reigning monarch who is a champion of the arts, in favour of the arts, supporting the arts, I think is really, really exciting.”
