During this year's Trooping the Colour in honor of King Charles' birthday, the sun seemed to offer the royal family a comforting sign during the festive ceremony and after a tumultuous six months.
As King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte appeared on the iconic Buckingham Palace Balcony during the flypast, the clouds parted and the pouring rain that continued throughout the ceremony came to a halt.
What could simply amount to a serendipitous moment, the sun appeared as the Band of the Coldstream Guards performed "Over the Rainbow," a somewhat fitting tribute to Middleton's triumphant return and first public appearance since her brief hospitalization in January and subsequent cancer diagnosis.
"The clouds parted and the rain that had been pouring stopped right on cue for the big balcony moment for the Royal Family," the BBC reported at the time. " They lined up for that classic image of the royals at Buckingham Palace. The King and the Princess of Wales included. The flypast roared overhead and the crowds looked up at the palace. It’s all over for another year."
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The past six months have been difficult for the royal family, as both Kate Middleton and King Charles battle unspecific forms of cancer.
Middleton in particular has been the target of relentless conspiracy theories and debunked rumors, focusing primarily on her health, standing within the royal family and her marriage to Prince William.
After Kensington Palace announced the Princess of Wales would not return to public-facing royal duties until at least the fall, if not until 2025, the Palace is reportedly determined to keep the conspiracy theories at bay and avoid a similar PR disaster that befell the monarchy after Middleton's infamous Mother's Day portrait fiasco.
“Lessons should have been learned from what happened earlier,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams recently told told Us Weekly, adding that it would be “appropriate” for Kensington Palace—where Kate’s office is based—to chime in with updates when necessary on Kate and her health.
“I mean, if you’re not told at all, and months passed, clearly there’s speculation and that could happen again,” he told the publication at the time. “So, I’m sure that it will be handled in a different way.”
Just one day before King Charles' annual birthday celebration, Kensington Palace announced that Princess Kate would be making a surprise appearance at this year's Trooping the Colour.
"I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet," the Princess of Wales said in a written statement shared on the Palace's many social media accounts.
"I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal."
Middleton went on to say that she is "making good process, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will now, there are good days and bad days."
"On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well," she continued. "My treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home."
