Prince William arrived for the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting on Wednesday without Princess Kate by his side.
The princess' no-show comes as she continues chemotherapy treatment for cancer, having made her first official public appearance in six months for the Trooping the Colour celebrations on June 15.
In a statement issued by the royal a day earlier, she said she hoped to be able to "join a few public engagements over the summer," but added that she is not "out of the woods" health-wise as her cancer treatment continues.
Kate has attended Royal Ascot over a number of years since her marriage to William in 2011.
Wednesday marked the second day of the 2024 meeting, with William photographed accompanying his stepmother, Queen Camilla, in the formal carriage procession along the racecourse.
King Charles, who is also receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, was absent on Wednesday, having attended Royal Ascot's opening day with the queen a day earlier.
William and Camilla were joined in their carriage by the Earl and Countess of Halifax, longtime aristocratic friends of the royal family with an interest in racing.
Other members of the royal family were also in attendance. The king's cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester hosted composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and his wife in the second carriage of the procession, while Prince Andrew's daughter, Princess Eugenie and her husband were seated in the third.
Two of the non-royals included in the carriage procession happen to have a link to Charles' younger son, Prince Harry.
Baron and Baroness von Westenholz are both friends of King Charles and Queen Camilla, with the baroness being one of the queen's official companions (ladies in waiting).
The couple's daughter, Violet, is close friends with Harry and is widely regarded to have been key in introducing him to another of her friends, Meghan Markle.
In his memoir, Spare, Harry told readers he had first seen Meghan in a social media post of Violet's, who worked in PR with the fashion brand Ralph Lauren, which was dressing the actress for an appearance at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in 2016.
The prince and Meghan were linked on social media and went on their first date soon afterward. They celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary in May.
The Royal Ascot carriage procession on Wednesday was played into view of the grandstand by the British national anthem "God Save The King." The royal party was greeted with cheers from the crowd and made their way to the exclusive box where the racing is viewed from.
The day's events included the Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Windsor Castle Stakes and the Kensington Palace Stakes.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have four horses entered into events over the course of the festival, including Dessert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes in 2023.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
