The Royal Family is known for sticking to traditions and long-standing protocols—and when they decide to go against those traditions and protocols, there's usually a very good reason.
Royal experts were quick to pick up on what seemed to be a change in royal protocol earlier this year at the annual Trooping the Colour event in June, when the Royal Family stepped out together on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. The family line-up was noticeably different, with Kate Middleton taking a place of honor next to King Charles III.
Kate Middleton stood in a place of honor at King Charles' right side when the royal family stepped out together on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour 2024.
At Trooping the Colour in 2023, Prince William stood directly to his father's right when the family stepped out on the balcony, and royal experts say any change to the lineup would be deliberate.
In 2023, Prince William stood at King Charles' right-hand side on the balacony during Trooping the Colour.
According to The Mirror, royal experts believe the change in lineup was likely the King's way of acknowledging his and Kate's similar health struggles, as both have undergone treatment for cancer in the past year. The break in protocol could also have been a way for the King to honor the Princess of Wales and show appreciation for the fact that she chose Trooping the Colour—an event celebrating the monarch's birthday—as her first public appearance amid her own cancer treatments.
“It is changing protocol to show the King and Kate united with each other and going through similar battles, so I would say this is down to the King’s preference," former royal butler Grant Harrold told OK!, “It is The balcony [line-up] is orchestrated, so I have a feeling the King said to Kate, ‘You stand next to me.’”
The King has publicly supported Kate throughout her cancer journey, which has overlapped with his own, with the pair reportedly bonding while undergoing treatment in the hospital at the same time earlier this year.
"While they were in hospital together there was a lot of toddling down the corridor to spend time with her,” a source told The Times at the time. “He has been encouraging and supporting her throughout. The King has always had a close, warm, and unique relationship with the princess. She has a great love and respect for him and his position.”
After Kate announced her diagnosis publicly in March (something she was inspired to do "after seeing Charles’ own openness about his condition," according to a report from The Telegraph), the King made a statement declaring his support for his daughter-in-law.
“His Majesty is ‘so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did,’” Buckingham Palace said in a statement after Kate revealed her diagnosis (per Vanity Fair). “Following their time in hospital together, [his majesty] has ‘remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks."
The statement went on to say that both Charles and Queen Camilla planned to "continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time.”