Kate will miss rehearsal for Trooping the Colour, Palace confirms in rare update
The Princess of Wales will not be attending a dress rehersal for Trooping the Colour next week, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
It was previously hoped the Princess of Wales would attend the Colonel’s Review on June 8 - a dress rehearsal of the traditional Trooping the Colour ceremony that takes place a week later.
It would have been her first official public engagement since she revealed her cancer diagnosis in March.
Prior to her shock cancer announcement, the Ministry of Defence said on its website that Kate, as Colonel of the Irish Guards, would be at the event in Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall, where she would carry out an inspection of soldiers on parade.
Kensington Palace did not confirm her appearance, and royal officials have reportedly now confirmed she will not be attending.
Lieutenant General James Bucknall, former commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, will now be carrying out the inspection instead, according to MailOnline.
The news came as Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles will be at the Trooping the Colour ceremony on June 15.
The military spectacle sees the most prestigious regiments in the British Army honour their Colonel in Chief by parading to mark his official birthday.
The monarch will be appearing in a carriage rather than riding on horseback - a decision that is understood to have been taken based on medical advice - palace officials reportedly confirmed.
It had previously been unclear whether medical advice would allow the King to attend Trooping the Colour.
The 75-year-old monarch has stepped back from public duties while he undergoes cancer treatment.
For the last two years, he has ridden on horseback at the military parade.
Charles deputised for Queen Elizabeth II at the 2022 event, before last year riding onto Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall as the nation’s head of state.
The sight of a monarch riding throughout Trooping the Colour had not happened since 1986 when the late Queen rode her charger Burmese for the final time. After that, the late Queen attended the ceremony in a carriage.
Buckingham Palace announced on February 6 the King had been diagnosed with a form of cancer, and had begun treatment.
The shock announcement came a week after Charles was discharged from private London hospital the London Clinic, where he spent three nights undergoing scheduled treatment for benign prostate enlargement.
In late March, Kate made the shock revelation that she too had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment.
She underwent major abdominal surgery in January, which was followed by months of public scrutiny and speculation as to her welfare.
In a video released on March 22, Kate revealed that tests carried out following her surgery found that cancer had been present.
“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” she said.
