And just like that, the royal calendar has delivered one of its most eventful weeks in months. Harry has landed in the UK without Meghan or the children after a last-minute palace dispute nobody comes out of well, Kate visited Evelina London Children’s Hospital and had the most charming encounter with a ten-year-old boy, Louise graduated from St Andrews with the best father-daughter detail of the year, William went on a podcast with the Kelce brothers and the internet absolutely loved him for it, and royal watchers have spent the week processing the Three Peaks photos while Charlotte apparently presented her mother with the most perfect gift. Let’s get into it.
Kate visited Evelina London Children’s Hospital in her role as patron, her first visit since December 2023, the month before she underwent abdominal surgery and her subsequent cancer diagnosis.
Kate wore a pale yellow Suzannah London dress with black buttons and a belted waist, and was greeted by children, families, nurses and cardiac specialists at the hospital’s new Edward ward, a children’s cardiac unit currently undergoing expansion. The ward is also developing a future Children’s Cancer Principal Treatment Centre in partnership with the Royal Marsden, the hospital where Kate herself received treatment.
The moment that stopped everyone was a conversation with a ten-year-old cardiac patient named Ejran, who looked up at her and asked, entirely without guile: “Are you the Queen’s daughter?” Kate smiled and replied simply: “No, I am the Princess of Wales.” She then turned the conversation straight back to him, asking how long he had been in hospital and making sure he felt seen rather than starstruck. They discovered they both love the same film, which is popular with George, Charlotte and Louis. He had also written a poem about Shrek.
The hospital visit came just days after she completed the National Three Peaks Challenge, and the tributes from her family that have emerged since are doing the rounds online. Charlotte, apparently, presented her mother with a handwritten card and a small gift at the bottom of Snowdon when the family gathered to meet her.
James Middleton, Kate’s brother, recalled a promise he made to her during her cancer treatment that they would complete the Three Peaks together. When Kate decided to do it solo and faster, he went and climbed his own mountain in support. Carole Middleton, seventy-one, hiked sections of the challenge alongside her daughter. The family photographs show the kind of unit they are, and why Kate spoke with such feeling when she told the Christie cancer centre last month that she understood how hard it is for families to watch someone they love go through treatment.
Possibly the sweetest royal story of the week, and it comes from Edinburgh.
Lady Louise Windsor, twenty-two, graduated from the University of St Andrews this Thursday with a degree in English and International Relations. Lady Louise studied for four years at the same institution where her cousin William first met Kate in 2001, joined the University Officers’ Training Corps, appeared in several student productions, and by all accounts managed to live an entirely normal university life while being seventeenth in line to the throne.
Edward and Sophie were there, naturally, looking as proud as punch. Boyfriend Felix da Silva-Clamp, whom Louise met at university, was also present. He has been seen supporting her at carriage driving competitions and is, by the accounts of those who know the couple, entirely grounded and entirely lovely.
The detail that has captured everyone’s hearts: eagle-eyed royal watchers noticed that Edward wore the exact same tie to Louise’s graduation that he wore when he left hospital with her in November 2003, two weeks after she was born.
Later that same afternoon, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Edward presented Louise with her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, the programme his own father established in 1956. Edward gave a speech about the award and then turned, pointed at his daughter and said: “We’ve got someone else who’s actually done all three.” Praising his daughter and presenting her with her award.
Louise plans to take a gap year before deciding on a career path. She will spend it working, volunteering and travelling. She is, by any measure, exactly the kind of young royal the institution needs.
Now for the story that no one in royal circles saw coming.
On Friday, the same day Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Kelce brothers released a surprise episode of their New Heights podcast in which their special guest was revealed to be Prince William, Prince of Wales.
Jason’s introduction for the heir to the British throne was delivered with his trademark enthusiasm: “Our guest today is the six-foot-three prince from London, England. The President of the English Football Association, the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Cornwall, the Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Earl of Chester, and the Prince of Wales.”
William’s response was perfect: “That is quite the intro, guys.”
They talked about football, the World Cup, and Aston Villa. William revealed that his father hates football, which surprised nobody. Travis recalled meeting William at the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert at Wembley in 2024, when Swift took the now-famous backstage photo of herself and Travis with William, George and Charlotte.
“That was honestly one of the coolest moments ever,” Travis said. “We were so nervous to meet you guys and the royal family.” Jason added that meeting Charlotte had been a highlight, calling her “electric” and describing the way she was asking questions and holding her own in the conversation.
It has since emerged that William and Kate met privately with Taylor and Travis in London in the weeks before the wedding, believed to be the first time Kate and the couple had been introduced. Charlotte, famously, is Taylor Swift’s biggest fan. One suspects that particular meeting went extremely well.
William had also teased during a radio interview in May that there might be an invitation to the wedding “around somewhere,” which kept the speculation going until it was confirmed he and Kate would not be attending. He told the Kelces he hoped to be at the World Cup final in New Jersey on 19 July if England make it. Which, as of this week, remains a genuine possibility.
Wimbledon is now into its second week, and it is worth pausing to appreciate just how brilliantly Kate has handled this year’s fortnight so far, she did something on day four that nobody quite expected and the internet absolutely loved her for it.
Rather than going straight to the Royal Box on her first appearance of the tournament, Kate arrived at Wimbledon in a cobalt blue Gabriela Hearst suit and joined the famous Queue outside the grounds, chatting to fans who had been waiting for hours and handing out tickets with the casual warmth of someone who simply wanted to say hello. She was cheered through the gates past Henman Hill before making her way not to the Royal Box but to Court 18, where she settled into ordinary spectator seats to watch British player Arthur Fery play his second-round match. She later moved to Court One with Andy Murray to watch British wildcard Katie Swan take on American Madison Keys. Sitting beside a two-time Wimbledon champion in a standard court seat rather than the prestige box, watching a third-round match nobody outside the tennis world had been tracking, Kate was precisely who she appears to be: a genuine fan.
The Princess of Wales is the patron of the All England Club, taking over the role from the Duke of Kent, and the contrast in approach between the two patronages could not be more marked. The duke, now ninety, opened the tournament with his customary presence in the front row of the Royal Box meanwhile Kate watches from Court 18 in a cobalt suit and hands out tickets to strangers.
The Royal Box itself has been its usual glorious parade of the famous and the fabulous across the first week. Highlights include Rory McIlroy in a bright green suit sharing a kiss with his wife Erica, King Frederik of Denmark looking characteristically stylish on day seven, David Beckham making a brief appearance between World Cup duties in America, Ellie Goulding arriving with her partner, she sang at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011 and Richard E. Grant in a white linen suit enjoying a day with his daughter. The Spencer twins, Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, wore matching white dresses on day two. Usain Bolt led day five in navy and Rishi Sunak came to watch.
The second week is now underway, and Kate is expected to return for the finals. If last year’s trophy presentation to Jannik Sinner was anything to go by, she will arrive in something white and immaculate, and the photographs will be all over the internet before the players have left the court. Watch this space.
The Crown, as ever, contains everything is constantly under scruity and this week will be no different with the arrival of Prince Harry in the UK. Until next week, keep the tea piping hot and the tiaras polished.
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