Royal fans were delighted to see Kate Middleton, 42, make a surprise appearance at Trooping the Color on Saturday, June 15th for King Charles III‘s official birthday. It was her first public appearance in six months, and her first public appearance since revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
And although she looked absolutely beautiful in her white Jenny Packham dress and Philip Treacy hat, the appearance reportedly took its toll on her. According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, attending the King’s Birthday Parade was “challenging” for the Princess of Wales, who is currently undergoing preventative chemotherapy and is undoubtedly not as strong and as fit as she once was.
Royal Expert Analyzes Kate Middleton's Trooping The Color Appearance
"The princess has this sort of swan-like quality about her – she's sort of gliding on the surface – but beneath the water, I think often she's paddling quite frantically," Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight following her surprise appearance.
"I can only imagine that a huge amount of preparation and time and effort and energy will have gone into Saturday's appearance," she continued, adding: "I think clearly a huge amount of effort went into her appearance behind the scenes, and it wasn't just about how she looked. It was how she held herself. It was the pride that she took in being there, the way she shepherded her children into the carriage and up onto that balcony appearance."
Nicholl added: "It was obviously very, very important for her to be there on Saturday, and I think she went to great lengths to make sure that she could be, and to do it all with that wonderful smile on her face."
"She was on her feet for a long period of time," Nicholl continued, adding: "There was a moment where she was watching the parade and was offered a seat, which she gratefully accepted. That's just a bit of an acknowledgement that she is not as strong, not as fit, as she was before she went into this treatment."
Despite not being as strong as she was prior to undergoing her chemotherapy treatment, Nicholl echoed many royal fans and noted how "impeccable" the mom-of-three looked. "If you didn't know that she was going through cancer treatment, you would never have guessed," Nicholl said, before speculating that we may not see the Princess of Wales for a while now…
"I think a day like Saturday, where she knows the eyes of the world are on her, there is a huge amount of scrutiny that will take its toll," Nicholl said. "I think we can probably imagine that she probably had a long and well-deserved rest afterwards. I don't think we can expect to see her in public for a little while. That's going to take some recovery from."
Attending Trooping The Color Was Reportedly A 'Goal' For Kate Middleton
If we are to believe Nicholl, attending Trooping the Color was something the Princess of Wales really wanted to do once she started feeling better with her cancer treatment. Nicholl explained that attending the event was somewhat of a "goal" for the Princess of Wales amid her cancer battle; and she naturally got the green light from her doctors, as well as from husband Prince William and father-in-law King Charles prior to attending.
"There was no pressure on her from anyone. She really wanted to do this," Nicholl said, before going on to say that everyone supported her decision to attend. "She turned a corner in her treatment," she added. "When she turned that corner, I was told that Trooping was a goal for her. She was given the sign-off by her medical team. She spoke to her father-in-law about attending and to Prince William. They were fully behind her."
"Charles has been a great pillar of support to Catherine when she said that she'd really like to be there at Trooping. He was 100 percent behind it. The idea that she was going to upstage him didn't even cross his mind. He just wanted his daughter-in-law by his side."
