The Princess of Wales has pulled out of attending Royal Ascot as she continues to find the right balance following her treatment for cancer.
Kate is said to be disappointed not to join her husband and the King and Queen at the famous sporting and social occasion in Berkshire.
The princess has been making a gradual return to public duties since it was announced in January she was in remission from cancer.
Her public appearances have increased in recent weeks and she has attended three high-profile events including Trooping the Colour, the annual Order of the Garter service and a visit to a V&A storage facility in London.
But it is understood Kate is trying to find the right balance as she fully returns to public-facing engagements that have featured an element of flexibility since her cancer diagnosis.
Kate’s mother Carole Middleton was at Royal Ascot despite her daughter missing the event and was photographed making her way through the racegoers with her daughter-in-law Alizee Thevenet around the time it was announced the princess would not be attending.
Racegoers had been hoping to see Kate, who missed Royal Ascot for the second successive year, as William was named as one of the figures awarding race prizes during the second day of the meeting.
She was named in the list of guests joining Charles and Camilla in the traditional carriage procession.
But the list was quickly amended removing Kate’s name after Kensington Palace confirmed she would not be attending.
The princess revealed in January she was in remission from cancer after making an emotional return to the specialist cancer institution, the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, where she was treated to comfort fellow patients.
She had been receiving chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February last year with the King beginning his cancer care earlier that month following his diagnosis after treatment for an enlarged prostate.
Announcing in September her treatment had ended, Kate described in an emotional video message how the previous nine months had been “incredibly tough for us as a family” and “doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus”.
William later said in a separate interview how 2024 had been “brutal”.
The princess’ measured return to royal duties was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II’s former communications secretary Ailsa Anderson.
Speaking before Kate’s withdrawal from Royal Ascot she told the latest issue of People magazine: “She’s being sensible, listening to what her body is telling her and easing back into public life.”
Charles and Camilla were all smiles when they arrived at racecourse in a carriage that now included William who had been due to travel in the following coach with Kate.
The King and Queen will be hoping for better luck with their horses after their much favoured thoroughbred Reaching High was well beaten in the Ascot Stakes on Tuesday.
They have entered Rainbows Edge in the Kensington Palace Stakes, a fillies handicap, and their horse is favourite with a number of bookies.
Among the royals at the famous Berkshire meet were the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and Zara and Mike Tindall.
During the day William was pictured enjoying a drink in an open-air section of the royal box with his mother-in-law Mrs Middleton a few feet away.
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