Has Kate Middleton’s next public event been confirmed or did the Army just make a big mistake?

Good news, everyone: Kate Middleton is alive! For a hot minute, the entire internet turned into Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny and everyone seemed to have their own personal conspiracy theory on what had happened to the Princess of Wales — things either got very dark or very dumb.

Although the royals remain mum on what’s going on with George, Charlotte, and Louis’ mum, however, at least we have now spotted Princess Catherine on a car journey, so we know she’s not dead/in a coma/abducted by aliens (delete as applicable). In addition, we may even know when we can expect Kate to finally make her grand return to public events too. But is this really what’s going on or did the British Army jump the gun? And what the heck does Trooping the Colour even mean anyway?

Kate Middleton is officially listed to attend the Trooping the Colour ceremony

The Army’s official website has announced that Princess Catherine will be attending this year’s Trooping the Colour ceremony, due to take place on June 15, 2024. Not only that, but King Charles III is also listed as being in attendance. This has shocked the royal-loving public, as it marks the first time that both Kate and Charles have been confidently announced to be making public appearances months in advance, during what is clearly a time of much upheaval for the Windsors.

According to the Army, the Princess of Wales — not seen publicly since she her abdominal surgery in January — is set to review the troops on June 8, before the main event occurs a week later, at which the King — who was recently diagnosed with an unknown type of cancer — is claimed to take part in the parade. The hitch? As per the BBC, royal sources have yet to confirm the duo’s attendance at the event themselves and claim that the royals were not consulted about the Army’s announcement.

What is Trooping the Colour?

The Trooping the Colour is an annual event that occurs on the third Saturday of June, which marks the reigning sovereign’s official birthday — each British monarch gets two birthdays, their actual one to be celebrated privately and an official one that gets all the fanfare. The event takes the form of an enormous military parade comprising 1400 soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 musicians and it goes from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guard’s Parade down The Mall. Members of the royal family always take part, either on horseback on in grand carriages. In short, Trooping the Colour is the fancy way of proclaiming “It’s the King’s second birthday, peasants!”

Kate herself has attended every single Trooping the Colour event since she got engaged to her now-husband Prince William in 2010, beginning with the 2011 parade, and her various looks have been much-loved by royal fashion fans each time. On this occasion, however, the question of what she might wear is massively overshadowed by whether she’ll be there at all. We’re still waiting on official confirmation from the palace, but who knows, maybe the Army and Camilla know something we don’t about how Charles and Kate are doing.