Princess Kate looked seriously unimpressed as anti-monarchists booed her and her children during Trooping the Colour this weekend. The Princess of Wales was caught on camera reacting to the jeers directed towards her, George, 12, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, 8, as they rode in a carriage during the annual celebration.
While she kept a stiff upper lip and did not respond directly to the booing, Kate looked visibly unamused by the antics, which were orchestrated by the anti-monarchy group Republic. Protesters could also be heard chanting "not my King" during a flypast in what they said was an effort to hold the Royal Family to account over what they knew about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. They went on to open umbrellas that spelled out the words 'Stop The Reign' while the royals stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
The King's official birthday celebrations otherwise went off without a hitch, marked by a display of military pomp and pageantry that showcased the Army's best ceremonial prowess on Horse Guards Parade before thousands of spectators.
Princess Kate and Prince William's three children were front and centre during the event, with royal fans particularly delighted by eight-year-old Louis. The young prince was at one point spotted ducking down to look through a half-open window to catch a glimpse of Trooping the Colour, and later leaning sideways to get a better view of the fly-past.
Trooping the Colour is a historic ceremony in which colours, or regimental flags, are "trooped" or paraded in front of soldiers so they can be recognised as rallying points in battle. The ceremony evolved into a celebration of the head of state's official birthday, and this year the colour trooped was the King's Colour of the Grenadier Guards, presented by the King earlier this week during a Buckingham Palace ceremony.
Charles inspected the troops from a carriage, passing the ranks of just over a thousand guardsmen from the Grenadier, Scots, Irish and Coldstream Guards regiments and later stood to salute as the colours were marched past him, first slow, then in quick time by the servicemen. Trooping has become as much a social occasion as a ceremonial event, with stands around Horse Guards Parade filled with around 8,000 family members of the guards and officers on parade.
The national celebration is also one of the highlights of the royal calendar, with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent among those gathered on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the traditional fly-past of RAF aircraft.
