Kate Middleton attends public event in London for first time since cancer diagnosis
Kate Middleton, the 42-year-old Princess of Wales, arrived at Buckingham Palace in London to attend the annual Trooping the Colour parade on Saturday, marking her first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis in January this year.
She was pictured wearing a pale outfit, sitting alongside her children and husband William, the Prince of Wales.
As part of the Trooping the Colour parade, the birthday pageantry Saturday for King Charles III, she travelled in a carriage alongside her three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — for the traditional procession through London, according to reports.
Bystanders cheered as they caught a glimpse of Kate, dressed in a white dress and wide-brimmed hat.
Prince William rode on horseback for the ceremony, also known as Trooping the Colour, in which troops in full dress uniform parade past the king with their regimental flag, or “colour.” Charles, who also is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, travelled in a carriage with Queen Camilla, rather than on horseback as he did last year, news agency AP reported.
Kate had announced her public appearance on Friday in a social media post. The Princess said she is making good progress as she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy but is “not out of the woods”. Kate said she had been “blown away” by the thousands of kind messages from across the globe that followed her cancer announcement in March.
In March, after two months of Kate’s absence from the public eye following her abdominal surgery, a massive discussion took place with many expressing apprehension about her health. Subsequently, Kensington Palace revealed that she is battling cancer and will remain away from public duties.
“My treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months …I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” she wrote on Friday.
Kate is also expected to meet King Charles, Queen Camilla and the other senior family members on the balcony of Buckingham Palace today.
The Princess spent two weeks in hospital in January after she underwent major abdominal surgery, and two months later she announced in a video message that tests had revealed the presence of cancer, and she would begin preventative chemotherapy.
Her office, Kensington Palace, has declined to give further details about the type of cancer or about her treatment, other than to say the preventative chemotherapy had begun in February.
