The Princess of Wales missed Royal Ascot for the second successive year as she sought the right balance following her cancer treatment.
Kate was said to have been disappointed not to join husband William and the King and Queen at the famous sporting and social event in Berkshire.
The princess has been making a gradual return to public duties since it was announced in January she was in remission from cancer.
Her appearances have increased in recent weeks and she has attended three high-profile events including Trooping the Colour, the annual Order of the Garter service and a visit to a V&A storage facility in London.
But it is understood Kate is trying to find the right balance as she fully returns to public-facing engagements that have featured an element of flexibility since her cancer diagnosis.
Kate’s mother Carole Middleton was at Royal Ascot despite her daughter missing the event, and was photographed making her way through the racegoers with her daughter-in-law Alizee Thevenet, around the time it was announced the princess would not be attending.
It is not clear when the princess took the decision not to join the royals at the races, but fans had been hoping to see Kate as William was one of the figures awarding prizes during the second day of the meeting.
She was named among the guests joining Charles and Camilla in the traditional carriage procession, but a revised list was quickly issued after Kensington Palace confirmed she would not be attending. Kate also missed Royal Ascot last summer.
The princess revealed in January she was in remission from cancer after making an emotional return to the specialist cancer institution, the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, where she was treated.
She had been receiving chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February last year, with the King beginning his cancer care earlier that month following his diagnosis after treatment for an enlarged prostate.
Announcing in September her treatment had ended, Kate described in an emotional video message how the previous nine months had been “incredibly tough for us as a family” and “doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus”.
William later said in a separate interview how 2024 had been “brutal”.
The princess’ measured return to royal duties was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II’s former communications secretary Ailsa Anderson.
Speaking before Kate’s withdrawal from Royal Ascot, she told the latest issue of People magazine: “She’s being sensible, listening to what her body is telling her and easing back into public life.”
It is thought the princess is unlikely to make an appearance during the remaining days of the five-day racing meet – which ends on Saturday.
Among the royals at the famous race course were the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and Zara and Mike Tindall.
William was pictured enjoying a drink in an open-air section of the royal box with Zara, and he later presented the prizes in the aptly named Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
Later Charles and Camilla watched from the royal box as another of their Royal Ascot hopefuls failed to win. Their horse Rainbows Edge, a favourite with the bookies, lost in the Kensington Palace Stakes.
The late Queen was a passionate owner and breeder of thoroughbreds and had more than 20 Royal Ascot winners during her 70-year reign.
Charles and Camilla have taken on her stable of horses and enjoyed their first Royal Ascot winner in 2023 when their horse Desert Hero triumph in the King George V Stakes.
