Royal Ascot: Catherine, Princess of Wales, cancels at last minute
June 19 (UPI) -- The Princess of Wales unexpectedly pulled out of attending Royal Ascot at the last minute, with officials saying it was related to her recovery from cancer.
Kate Middleton skipped the Royal Family's traditional excursion to the event 30 miles southwest of London on Wednesday, which is a key fixture in the country's horse racing calendar.
The decision came amid efforts to strike a balance as she eases back into her public role as the wife of Prince William, Kensington Palace said.
An official told The New York Times she was "disappointed" not to be able to attend, adding that she needed to find the "right balance" in the level of public engagements she takes on.
The decision was very likely unplanned. Two hours before a royal procession along the Straight Mile that kicks off the event was to take place, she was still listed in the official program as being in the second carriage with husband Prince William, behind the king and queen.
In the end, William arrived from Windsor in his father's carriage along with Queen Camilla and Prince Saud bin Khalid Al Saud, a member of Saudi Arabia's Royal Family.
It was the 200th anniversary of the procession, which was begun by King George IV in 1825. On that occasion, the Duke of Wellington rode along in George's carriage.
Carole Middleton, Kate's mother, did attend the event.
The princess has been gradually returning to her public duties after announcing she was in remission in January, with her most recent appearance at an Order of the Royal Garter service in Windsor, where she was seen smiling and chatting.
Two days before that, on Saturday, she attended the Trooping of the Color in London, a military parade celebrating the monarch's official birthday.
It was the second consecutive year the princess had missed Royal Ascot.
She was unable to attend in 2024 as it came three months after she announced she had been diagnosed with cancer in March.
However, The New York Times speculated that her absence on Wednesday may have had nothing to do with her recovery, but was related instead to the event itself or the weather. Wednesday was one of the hottest days of the year with temperatures in the mid-80s F.
King Charles is a fellow cancer survivor, receiving his diagnosis in February 2024, three weeks after he was hospitalized for treatment for an enlarged prostate at the same hospital where his daughter-in-law was recovering from major abdominal surgery that would take months to heal.
The late Queen Elizabeth II, somewhat of a racing fanatic, was closely linked with Royal Ascot. Race horses she owned or bred won more than 20 titles at the world-famous track over the course of her seven decades on the throne.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
3 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Transgenderism Turns the World Upside Down
While reading Jessica Hart Steinmann and Leigh Ann O'Neill's op-ed 'Transgenderism Won't Let Girls Say No' (June 6), I was reminded of a 17th-century English ditty: 'If buttercups buzz'd after the bee, if boats were on land, churches on sea; if ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows, and cats should be chased into holes by the mouse; if the mamas sold their babies to the gypsies for half a crown; if summer were spring and the other way round, then all the world would be upside down.'
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Roman ‘jigsaw' reveals 2,000-year-old wall paintings
An excavation has revealed one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster to be discovered in London. Archaeologists have spent four years working on thousands of fragments of shattered plaster discovered at a site in 2021 in Southwark, near London Bridge station and Borough Market. The researchers have pieced together the artwork of a high-status Roman building. It is believed the frescoes decorated at least 20 internal walls between AD 40 and 150, before the building was demolished and the wall plaster dumped into a pit before the start of the third century. The reconstruction of the wall art has shed further light on high society in Roman Britain. The paintings display yellow panel designs with black intervals, decorated with images of birds, fruit, flowers and lyres. They demonstrate both the wealth and taste of the building's owners, according to the excavation team at the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola). Yellow panel designs were scarce in the Roman period, and repeating yellow panels found at the site in Southwark were even scarcer, making the discovery extremely rare. Among the fragments is rare evidence of a painter's signature – the first known example of this practice in Britain. Framed by a 'tabula ansata', a carving of a decorative tablet used to sign artwork in the Roman world, it contains the Latin word 'fecit', which translates to 'has made this'. But the fragment is broken where the painter's name would have appeared, meaning their identity will likely never be known. Unusual graffiti of the ancient Greek alphabet has also been reconstructed – the only example of this inscription found to date in Roman Britain. The precision of the scored letters suggests that it was done by a proficient writer and not someone undertaking writing practice. It took three months for Han Li, a Mola senior building material specialist, to lay out all the fragments and reconstruct the designs to their original place. He said: 'This has been a 'once-in-a-lifetime' moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out... The result was seeing wall paintings that even individuals of the late Roman period in London would not have seen.' Work to further explore each piece of plaster continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
2,000-year-old Roman wall paintings unearthed in London
Archaeologists have unearthed one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London and painstakingly pieced the fragments together, they said Thursday. The plaster, which was discovered on a construction site in 2021, once decorated around 20 internal walls of a high-status early Roman (AD 43-150) building in Southwark, south of the River Thames, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said. The plaster was found dumped in a large pit, having been smashed into thousands of pieces during Roman demolition works that took place some time before AD 200. MOLA Senior Building Material Specialist Han Li has spent the last three months laying out the fragments and reconstructing the designs. "This has been a once in a lifetime moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out," he explained. "Many of the fragments were very delicate and pieces from different walls had been jumbled together when the building was demolished, so it was like assembling the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle. a "The result was seeing wall paintings that even individuals of the late Roman period in London would not have seen," he added. The reconstruction revealed bright yellow panel designs decorated with images of birds, fruit, flowers, and lyres not seen for 1800 years. Among the fragments is evidence of a painter's signature, although their name is not among the pieces, as well as unusual graffiti of the ancient Greek alphabet. Another fragment features the face of a crying woman with a Flavian period (AD 69-96) hairstyle. The construction site has already yielded mosaics and a rare Roman mausoleum. jwp/jkb/giv
