Kate Middleton has never been afraid to rip up the royal rulebook, making the strict and sometimes inflexible rules work for her.
This week was no different for the Princess of Wales, with the 43-year-old planting a kiss on King Charles’s cheek as the family attended a funeral.
Kate was joined by Prince William as the senior royals lay the Duchess of Kent to rest at Westminster Cathedral. Queen Camilla was unable to attend due to illness.
As a loving act of support at the end of the moving service, Kate kissed Charles on the cheek.
Protocol usually frowns upon any public displays of affection between royals; this is because royals are public servants and may wish to remain ‘professional’ when out in front of royal subjects.
However, Charles and Kate have always shared a close bond. The King referred to Kate as his “beloved daughter-in-law” while speaking at a state banquet in Kenya in October 2023, with the pair’s relationship growing ever stronger after they were both diagnosed with cancer last year.
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith has previously indicated that Charles “has always had a very good bond” with Kate.
“I don’t think it is presumptuous to say that she is like the daughter he never had,” she told People magazine last year. “He shares with William an impulse to protect her. They are in this together, Kate and the King.”
The funeral of the Duchess of Kent, who died on September 4, marks the start of an important and busy week for the royals.
President Donald Trump has landed in Windsor for his second state visit, meeting Charles at Windsor Castle.
Elsewhere, Kate has been given a ‘secret mission’ as she accompanies America’s First Lady, Melania Trump.
Kate is set to meet with Melania for some one on-one-time at Frogmore Gardens, a 33-acre estate within the Home Park at Windsor Castle, where their “‘secret squirrel’ mission will get underway: a meeting with Dwayne Fields, Chief Scout of the Scouts Association, of which the Princess is a patron.
Melania and Kate will also meet members of the Scouts' Squirrels program, to hear more about how children can earn a nature-related badge as part of the scheme. Given that the two women have both focused on children as part of their work, we're sure there'll be plenty for them to chat about.
