I think a few of us were hoping that this would happen! To the delight of onlookers, the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex joined their husbands at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day in Berkshire with their children. This is the first time Archie Mountbatten-Windsor has been photographed alongside his Cambridge cousins, and in fact it marks his first “appearance” outside of his formal presentation and christening. Even more, it was a nice and much-needed display of family unity following several months of negative reporting.
First of all, thank God there are images of Kate and Meghan smiling and laughing(!) After all the speculation about William and Kate’s awkwardness in the christening photos, it’s helpful to see them getting along in public. They might not be best friends, but we’ve seen these two get along enough times that I think it’s fair to say there’s no deep-seated antipathy. Reportedly Kate is actually smiling back at Meghan in the photo below, but the DoS is cut off:
Meghan is holding the two-month-old Archie in all of the photos and seemingly staying close to the car.
And Kate spent a good bit of time chasing after Prince Louis, who is not only walking, but walking quickly if today is any indication!
Later on, she and Louis grouped near Meghan and Archie, where Prince George joined them.
We have less photos of Princess Charlotte, but a few have popped up in which she and George are playing with polo mallets. On-brand, as always.
As we saw at this year’s Trooping the Colour, Louis definitely seems to have a big personality 🙂
He also stole his mother’s sunglasses at one point to show his Aunt Meghan (with his tongue out).
Thanks to the logistics of the venue, I don’t think today’s images are going to rival the (frankly, amazing) candids we got of George and Charlotte last year when Kate took them to watch another of William’s matches, but the addition of Meghan and Archie is definitely welcome. I hope, too, that both women keep doing this, because it’s an easy way to let the public see the children, without putting them in a weird or uncontrolled environment.
Update: A few more photos of all three Cambridge kids towards the end became available. George is getting so tall, which is a good reminder that his sixth birthday is later this month. Hard to believe, etc.
Kate was a regular fixture when William played pre-kids, and she even brought along George once when he was about Louis’s age now (see photo below). Then there was a bit of a gap until last year, so fingers crossed we’ve crossed whatever bridge that was and this trend continues.
Some of the most iconic photos of the late Diana, Princess of Wales are of her with her children watching the Prince of Wales play polo, so it’s a nice bit of symmetry.
On the fashion front, Meghan is wearing a green khaki Lisa Marie Fernandez dress, which appears from the label’s photos to usually be belted. I’m certainly not going to call this a win, but I think she gets a pass to wear whatever she wants given she gave birth to two months ago.
Kate’s pink dress appears to be LK Bennett. This is officially her favored silhouette this summer, and I’m on board for it. Her hair has also been on-point for the last couple of months, golf (polo?) clap all around.
Oh, and the boys played polo.
I’ve gone back and forth on whether I want to cover the kerfuffle over Meghan being photographed at Wimbledon last week (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, well, then hold on to your hats), and I think I will, but I’m going to fold it into a royal roundup tomorrow or Friday. Speaking of Wimbledon, I’m thinking we’ll get another appearance from Kate this weekend, so fingers crossed and such.