Why Kate Middleton and Prince William Didn’t Attend King Charles’ First State Opening of Parliament

Kate Middleton and Prince William were not with King Charles for the first time in his royal reign.

On Tuesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the opening of Parliament for the first time since his accession to the throne. The king wore the imperial state crown for the first time since his coronation and read a government-written King’s Speech containing draft bills for the new parliamentary session.

In addition to the King and Queen, Princess Anne attended the event in the role of Gold Stick in the movie Waiting.

However, the Prince and Princess of Wales did not attend the historic event.

King Charles and Queen Camilla at the State Opening of Parliament on 7 November 2023.

LEON NEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Queen Camilla debuts historic crown for King Charles’ first State Opening of Parliament

It is not compulsory for the heir to the throne to attend the State Opening of Parliament, but King Charles has accompanied his mother, Queen Elizabeth, several times during her reign. He attended for the first time in 1970.

But Prince William had a big event on Tuesday: the Earthshot Awards ceremony in Singapore. The Prince of Wales, 41, appeared on the green carpet alongside Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K. Brown as they paid tribute to the next wave of environmentalists coming up with answers to the planet’s most pressing problems.

Although Princess Kate, 41, joined her husband at the inaugural Eco Awards in London in October 2021 and for the second cycle in Boston in December 2022, she did not travel to Singapore. She stayed in the UK to support their son Prince George while he sat his school exams.

“Catherine is very sorry that she cannot be here,” Prince William said this week in Singapore. “She’s helping George through his first set of big exams.”

Cate Blanchett and Prince William at the Earthshot Awards on November 7, 2023.

Chris Jackson/Getty

Prince William hits the Green Carpet in Singapore for the Earthshot Prize

In May 2022, Prince William was present for the first time at the official opening of Parliament. Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen, who died in September 2022 aged 96, would miss the event due to “episodic movement problems”. Charles introduced his mother for the first time and read the Queen’s Speech.

By letters patent, Queen Elizabeth transferred her royal duty of opening the new session of Parliament to her son and grandson, which enabled them to hold this function together. Both acted as advisers of state, and two advisers of state must carry out any of the monarch’s constitutional duties.

Princess Kate has not yet attended the official opening of Parliament.

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Royals at the coronation celebrations in Scotland on July 5, 2023.

Jane Barlow – Pool/Getty Images

King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 76, may not have accompanied Prince William and Princess Kate to the grand opening of Parliament, but the monarch made clear the important roles their son and daughter-in-law play in the royal family. He bestowed the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales on them just one day after taking the throne, and they have been at high-profile events — including being the only other royals at the coronation celebrations in Scotland over the summer.

“Charles is already ahead of them and [William and Kate] both are involved in behind-the-scenes decision-making. They are ready and willing to do the work — and Kate is very much a part of that,” a friend of the princess told PEOPLE.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education