Kate Middleton, wife to Prince William of Great Britain, was notably missing once again from a traditional Royal event on Friday, July 6. The Duchess of Cambridge opted not to attend this year’s Order of the Thistle ceremony, despite her husband’s presence at the event.
However, as reported by Town And Country Magazine , her absence comes with the reasoning that the Duchess is still in fact on maternity leave, having given birth to her third child, Prince Louis, only two months ago on April 23. William’s wife has put her Royal duties aside for the time being to finish recovering from the child’s birth and also to help care for him as much as she can through the earliest days of his life.
Aside from caring for her newborn, the 36-year-old Royal is also spending plenty of quality time with her other two children, Prince George, who turns five years old this month, and Princess Charlotte, who is currently three years old.
Since giving birth to Louis back in April, Kate has notably skipped out on quite a few of the Royal engagements that have taken place so far this year, including the 2018 Royal Ascot, as well as a planned trip for her and her husband to Jordan, which William ended up doing on his own, but vouching upon his arrival for his wife’s sadness that she could not also be in attendance.
“[Kate is] very sorry she cannot be here with me so soon after the birth of our son Louis [on April 23], but her family remembers very fondly the almost three years she spent here as a child when her father worked for British Airways in Amman,” he explained at the time.
Despite this though, the last time the Duchess of Cambridge attended the Order of the Thistle, which occurs every two years, was back in 2012, meaning that she has missed the last three instances of the Royal event taking place.
The Order itself is a traditional ceremony, taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which the Queen bequeaths the highest award in the nation, knighthood, to specific individuals who have been deemed worthy of the title. The event has specific deeply rooted guidelines including a dress code as well. The royal family’s official website makes mention of the fact that the knights and ladies dress in green velvet robes for the ceremony, which traditionally takes place at the Thistle Chapel in St Giles’ Cathedral.
Aside from Kate, Prince Charles, Camilla, and Prince Phillip were all also not in attendance at this year’s event, citing various reasons and prior Royal obligations as well.
