The Princess of Wales returned to “duty” on Saturday, being seen at a public event for the first time in nearly six months. She attended Trooping the Colour, having only confirmed her appearance on Friday, an announcement timed for “the last minute.” As I said, this was the best case scenario and one which I repeatedly wished for on this blog – Kate stepping out on the balcony, looking healthy and together. I was surprised that it wasn’t just a quick balcony appearance too – she was photographed in the car with Prince William and their kids, and they also did a little closed-carriage ride through the rain. It was clear that everything had been heavily stage-managed behind the scenes, and all of the palace insiders are briefing everyone that Kate should not be expected to return to any kind of schedule.
As Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast points out though, the palace and the royalists are trying to have it both ways. They’re trying to say that Kate’s big return was the biggest thing that ever happened and Kate saved the monarchy and isn’t it amazing that she looked so great… and they also want to say that Kate still won’t return to work. Sykes sort of skips over the discussion about “what was really going on over the past six months,” but I guess no one is ready to have those conversations.
The royal family’s goal was clear: present the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, to the world, crush the conspiracy theories, and reset the royal narrative ahead of the summer break. Reading the euphoric coverage in British news websites Saturday after Trooping The Color had concluded, palace operatives are no doubt satisfied enough to declare the mission accomplished.
One friend of Kate’s told The Daily Beast: “Catherine has been absolutely amazing. Her statement was extraordinary, and her appearance today was graceful and elegant and has filled people with hope.”
Another royal source said: “She knocked it out of the park. She looked amazing and sent all the right messages. This has been the monarchy’s best day since the Coronation.”
Even the weather co-operated; the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly as the royal family assembled on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to receive the nation’s good wishes on the king’s official birthday. It was impossible for optimists not to see the bright blue sky after a morning of ferocious rain as a metaphor; the royal family, battered by cancer in this year of extraordinary ill-fortune and bad luck, had in the end pulled through.
King Charles was alive, if not looking particularly well (even the determinedly monarchist Daily Telegraph had to concede he looked “a little drained”) shepherding his family to a brighter future. But make no mistake, today was really about Kate, who, against all the odds, pulled off a glitter-canon of a comeback of such stunning, last minute narrative perfection that were it a storyline in a soap opera, it would risk being rejected as implausible.
In briefings, the palace has emphasized to journalists over and over again that Kate’s attendance at Trooping the Color should not be confused with the assumption she is now on a glide path back to public life. And herein lies the fly in the ointment. Having triumphantly proved that Kate is well enough to turn out for hours on end at a ceremonial event, it’s somewhat tricky for the palace to also say she isn’t, that she won’t, for example, attend the Garter Parade or Royal Ascot next week.
Cancer sufferers and their families, of course, will understand. This is the reality of cancer treatment; those “good days” Kate referred to in her statement usually come to patients near the end of each cycle of chemo. But the genie is out of the bottle. Expectations to see Kate back in action will now, unavoidably, build. An awful lot depends, therefore, on exactly what Kate meant by her careful and cautious phrasing when she said, in that unprecedented statement, “I am not out of the woods yet. I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty.”
“But the genie is out of the bottle. Expectations to see Kate back in action will now, unavoidably, build.” Variations of this statement were sort of the reaction across the board – six months of frankenphotos, faked/staged sightings, palace lies, international media outlets calling out the palaces for their lack of credibility, all of those shenanigans and Kate looks pretty much the same and she’s well enough to do all of the Trooping activities? And yet not well enough to return to a normal-for-Kate schedule? By normal-for-Kate, I mean one or two appearances a week? It’s not like she’s ever done hard labor, and clearly, she’s well enough to do assorted busywork events, even if those events are virtual. Why didn’t they have her doing Zoom meetings or making video statements this whole time? Why isn’t that the plan going forward?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.