Kate conquers Italy, Charles nuzzles a spaniel, Diana’s brother elopes to Arizona and Harry misses a wedding — a big week in the royal world

Tea, Titles & Tiaras with Emily Darlow

A packed week – Kate’s triumphant return to international duties, Charles sniffing roses and meeting Beckham, Diana’s brother eloping to Arizona, William restructuring a billion-pound estate, a royal wedding guest list with some very notable gaps, and Meghan marking eight years with unseen photos. Let’s get through it.

Kate success in Italy!

Kate’s two-day solo visit to Reggio Emilia in northern Italy this week was her first official overseas trip since Boston in December 2022 and her first international engagement since her cancer diagnosis. To say it went well is an understatement.

The visit was focused entirely on the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, a world-renowned philosophy built around creativity, relationships and child-led discovery. Kate has spent years building the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood into a serious policy-influencing institution, and this trip represented a clear “gear change” as she takes the work global. An aide described it as “a global mission,” adding that the Princess wants to create an international conversation around early childhood development “with the same urgency as climate change.”

On day one, Kate arrived in Piazza Camillo Prampolini in a cobalt blue suit by Edeline Lee to crowds holding “Ciao Kate” signs. She greeted a group of preschoolers in Italian and the reaction was immediate. One five-year-old, Alice, said afterwards: “She asked my name in Italian. Her Italian was perfect.” She visited the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, took part in a clay atelier workshop, and was photographed laughing, asking questions and in a thoroughly un-royal move hugging a member of the public who asked for a selfie. The clay workshop instructor said: “She said she wanted to stay with us for another hour.”

Day two took her to a working farm stay and a pasta-making session, where she was photographed rolling fresh pasta with children and farmers, the kind of image that is worth a thousand speeches. She left Reggio Emilia with the Primo Tricolore, the city’s highest civic honour, a replica of the first Italian flag adopted there in 1797.

Her Instagram note at the end of the visit was personal and signed simply “C.” describing the trip as “deeply moving and unforgettable” and thanking the city for welcoming her into “a culture of care.”

What didn’t go well? Honestly, very little. If pressed: the trip was perhaps too short, two days barely scratches the surface of a city that has spent decades building what is considered the gold standard of early childhood education. There was a note of criticism from some quarters that the visit had been arranged entirely without William, who has not yet shown the same public commitment to early childhood as a cause. But that may be reading too much into a deliberately focused solo mission. The coverage was overwhelmingly positive, the public warmth genuine, and the symbolism unmissable: Kate is back, she is working, and she is doing it on her own terms.

Gnomes, Roses and Beckham at Chelsea

This week also brought the annual Chelsea Flower Show and the royal family’s most joyful outing of the season.

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on Monday to tour the show, and Charles was very much in his element. The centrepiece of his visit was the King’s Foundation Curious Garden, designed by Frances Tophill and co-created with two surprising collaborators: Alan Titchmarsh and Sir David Beckham. The garden a wildly charming mix of dye plants, traditional crafts, vegetable beds and wildflowers includes a potting shed at its heart containing four gnomes named Charles III, Sir David, Alan and Frances. Beckham had reportedly suggested garlic and catmint be included. He was then surprised when the designer told him he had focused more on the flowers than the vegetables. Charles inspected the new rose named “Sir David Beckham” and was thoroughly delighted.

He also nuzzled a cocker spaniel called Zinc, a disease-detection dog training to sniff out plant pests. When Rod Stewart told Charles at the King’s Trust event earlier this week that he had “put that little rat bag in his place” in Washington, Charles smiled serenely. When he nuzzled the spaniel at Chelsea, he looked genuinely, uncomplicatedly happy. There is something very satisfying about that contrast.

Camilla, meanwhile, made the wry observation that the market stalls were “very tempting,” declared a patio heater display “highly recommended” given the spring chill, and admired a colourful ceramic cockerel. Two people who are precisely as they appear to be.

A Desert Elopement: Earl Spencer Weds in Arizona

This week’s most cinematic royal-adjacent story came from Sedona, Arizona, where Diana’s brother Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, married archaeologist Professor Cat Jarman on May 15, in the desert, in front of Cathedral Rock.

It is Spencer’s fourth marriage. Cat Jarman, 43, is a Norwegian Viking-era specialist who arrived at Althorp five years ago on an archaeological dig and never quite left. They co-host the podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives, celebrated their 100th episode in February, and have nine children between them from previous relationships. Cat wore a pale blue linen sleeveless gown; Spencer wore a dark suit with an open collar. The photographs, some shot by Cat herself are stunning.
Their statement was warm and simple: “We both feel so incredibly lucky to have progressed from being colleagues, to friendship, to deep love and connection.”

The choice to marry in Arizona, in secret, with no formal announcement in advance, said everything about who they are. When previously asked about the Countess title, Cat replied that she already had titles she had earned her PhD and her professorship and wasn’t sure where Countess would fit. She is, however, now officially Countess Spencer.

William’s Billion-Pound Plan

Prince William announced this week that he plans to sell approximately 20 per cent of the Duchy of Cornwall’s property portfolio over the next decade,  a significant restructuring of one of the oldest royal estates in England, established in 1337.

The Duchy is currently valued at over £1 billion and generates around £23 million annually for William, Kate and their family. The plan, announced via Duchy chief executive Will Bax in an interview with The Times, is to concentrate holdings in five “heartlands”  the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Bath area and Kennington in south London and invest approximately £500 million in housing, renewable energy and environmental restoration.

Bax said William believes the estate “shouldn’t just exist to own land” but should “have a positive impact on the world.” The housing component will be significant, around £160 million directed toward affordable homes and workplaces in areas facing genuine housing crises. There is a human note of complexity here: tenants at the Bradninch estate in Devon reportedly felt “enormously stressed” on hearing the plans. Bax confirmed all ten are in conversation about potentially buying their farms.

It is, broadly, a bold and forward-thinking decision. The monarchy of the future will need to justify its existence in tangible ways, and a future king directing a billion-pound estate toward affordable housing and nature recovery is a reasonable start.

Who’s In and Who’s Out: Peter Phillips’ June Wedding

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling will marry at All Saints Church in Kemble, Cirencester on June 6 and the guest list is proving to be rather interesting.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson will not be there. The reasoning is what you’d expect: their attendance “would cause a distraction to the whole day,” a friend of the couple said. The King and Queen, and William and Kate, have been informed of the plans. Beatrice and Eugenie are expected to attend, a notable and welcome public moment for the two sisters, who have kept a very low profile since their father’s arrest in February.

Prince Harry is also not invited. The reason given is disarmingly straightforward: The cousins have not spoken for several years and have lost touch, according to a royal source. No drama, no policy  just two cousins who drifted. Harry was at Peter’s first wedding; Peter was at Harry’s. There may be a bigger story there but for now the palace are keeping their lips sealed.

The wedding is described as intimate and personal, in an area where both Peter and Harriet grew up. That feels right for two people who have clearly decided to do this their own quiet way.

Mike and Zara Hit the Golf Course – in some very out there trousers

A brief but essential bulletin from the Tindall household: Zara turned 45 this week and celebrated on a golf course at a charity event in the Midlands, joined by Mike, who marked the occasion by wearing trousers that can only be described as a visual event. Loud, checked and completely committed, they are exactly the kind of trousers a man wears when he has absolutely nothing to prove. Mike called his wife a “legend” for spending her birthday at a charity golf day. She is. Happy birthday, Zara.

Lady Louise: Just a Normal 22-Year-Old (Who Works in a Castle)

Lady Louise Windsor, 22, has been quietly carving out a very normal life alongside her royal duties, spending this week working a paid role as a chief organiser at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The young royal, who is finishing her English degree at the University of St Andrews, reportedly helped with administration and event organisation behind the scenes and has worked at the show during previous university holidays as well.

Louise also competed in the British Driving Society carriage driving meet, continuing the tradition passed down by her late grandfather, Prince Philip, who introduced her to the sport. Spectators also spotted Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh proudly watching her daughter throughout the event.

https://www.instagram.com/meghan/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0f0520b5-37e8-4ee0-8878-72dfa54e4634

Eight Years of wedded bliss for Megs and Harry

May 19 marks eight years since Harry and Meghan’s wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and Meghan marked the occasion in her signature way: with a carefully curated set of previously unseen photographs.

The images include candid black-and-white shots from the day, reception portraits, dancing, and most notably a behind-the-scenes photograph of King Charles with Harry and Meghan, understood to be taken just before Charles walked Meghan down the aisle. It is the first time Meghan has included the King in any of her Instagram posts since returning to social media last year. Whether deliberate olive branch or simply a beautiful photograph, it is a striking choice. Meghan captioned it simply: “Eight years ago today.” Happy anniversary to them both.

And that’s the weekly roundup of royal events – a princess making pasta in Italy, a King nuzzling a spaniel, an Earl eloping to the desert, a future King quietly restructuring a billion-pound estate, a guest list that says more than words could, and eight years of a marriage marked with a photograph that includes the King. Until next week, keep the tea piping hot and the tiaras polished.