Because of her ongoing recovery from abdominal surgery, Princess Kate was forced to miss the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade she attends every year through her role as honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards; last Sunday was the first parade she’d missed in seven years, The Sun reports.
The parade, naturally, was this past Sunday, and though Kate wasn’t there physically, her presence was certainly felt—The Daily Mail reports she put around $2,500 toward the bill at the regimental bar in Aldershot so soldiers could enjoy pints of Guinness to celebrate the occasion at the post-parade party. (Now that’s pretty cool.) The Daily Mail calculated that, with that amount of money spent, the soldiers were treated to “at least 700 pints” of Guinness.
Perhaps not surprisingly, The Sun reports “Members from the Irish Guards gave three cheers to absent Kate—raising their bearskin helmets into the air as a mark of respect.”
Kate was given this appointment by her father-in-law, King Charles, in December 2022, so last year’s parade was her first St. Patrick’s Day parade since being given the honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards title. However, People reports, she has attended the parade multiple times before alongside her husband Prince William, who held the position before her. William previously said that this appointment was one of the “great honors of my life.”
“Princess Kate’s traditional role of handing out shamrock sprigs for the guards to pin on their uniforms was carried out this year by Lady Ghika, wife of the Regimental Lieutenant Colonel, Major General Sir Christopher Ghika,” People reports. “In addition to issuing the shamrocks, dog lover Kate would usually greet Irish wolfhound Turlough Mor, who is known as Seamus. As Colonel, she’d also receive the royal salute.”
In addition to helping with the bar tab, William and Kate also posted about the Irish Guards on their shared Instagram: “Happy St Patrick’s Day!” they wrote. “Here’s a sneak peek of the @irishguards rehearsing for their annual parade. Sláinte to all those celebrating today!”
Yep, we’ll drink to that!
