The Princess of Wales has been front and centre this weekend, returning to duty with two consecutive days of royal engagements to mark Remembrance Day.
These are Princess Kate’s first public engagements since July, with the 42-year-old mother of three said to be taking “baby steps”, following her cancer recovery.
“The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family,” the Princess of Wales announced in a rare health statement to confirm the completion of her chemotherapy treatment. “Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.
“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,” she continued. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”
Remembrance Day is an important event in the royal calendar, with Princess Kate taking a major step forward in her recovery to attend both the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday afternoon, and the Cenotaph memorial on Sunday.
The royal family honours the day each year by joining political leaders, World War veterans and members of the Armed Forces for a service and a wreath laying at the foot of the Cenotaph memorial.
Selected high ranking royal family members are known to stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch proceedings. And with Princess Kate being one of the leaders of the fold, she is a focal point.
It is the Princess of Wales’ wardrobe choices that tend to cause a particular buzz, with Kate choosing to wear three poppies instead of the singular flower that is traditionally worn.
She is not alone in this, following in the late Queen Elizabeth II’s footsteps, who was known to wear as many as five poppies. And while it has never been confirmed why, there are some theories.
One theory is simply that the poppies are more visible in a multiple cluster, and another is that multiple brooches honour the amount of family members who fought in the war. Other theories suggest that each poppy represents a different service, with the Queen’s five poppies said to symbolise the RAF, the Navy, the Army, women and the Civil Defence.
Royal insiders have added weight to the theories, but the royal family has never officially confirmed them.
We will continue to update this story.
