'Where's Kate' Continues: Princess of Wales Is Set to Miss One of Her Most Anticipated Royal Events of the Year

Kate, Princess of Wales, as Colonel of the Irish Guards, is set to miss her first major royal event since her major abdominal surgery on January 16. Her cancelation and replacement come amid the ongoing social media "obsession" surrounding her botched Mother's Day photo editing "hack job."

The future queen will miss this year's St Patrick's Day Parade, which, thanks both to her military honor and consistently surprising wardrobe, has now become an event "solely associated with her," according to a palace insider. During the ceremony, Her Royal Highness would hand out shamrocks to officers, who then pass them on to the rest of the ranks.

The princess will be replaced this year by Lady Ghika, wife of the Regimental Lieutenant Colonel, Major General Sir Christopher Ghika.

The tradition of a female member of the British royal family handing out the shamrocks dates back to 1900 but has been missing a royal presence on at least ten different occasions, which does not make Kate's absence unprecedented.

Of the event, Commanding Officer James Aldridge stated: "St Patrick’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the friendships that are so fundamental to our Regimental ethos and identity. With our busy and diverse operational schedules, it is the most prominent occasion for the Regimental family to come together, and we are really looking forward to welcoming Micks of all ranks, from across the Army, past and present, and their families."

Minus the "questionable" Mother's Day image, the Princess of Wales has not clearly been seen since Christmas Day 2023, apart from one grainy image where she is seated in a car next to her mother, Carole Middleton, from earlier this month. This pic, which was banned in Britain, led one Hollywood insider to observe: "Apart from a puffy face, which we are not used to [seeing] on her, she seems to look normal."

Even amid the photoshop disaster of Sunday, March 10, both Kensington Palace and the monarchy's official base, Buckingham Palace, continue to insist the future queen is "doing well" in her procedural recovery. Although the "Where's Kate?" hashtag has been popular online for weeks, the image scandal caused the mainstream media to pick up on the trend and run "incessant" coverage of Princess Kate conspiracy theories.

Some of these suggestions have run the gamut from suggesting the princess is deceased to being permanently disfigured from the surgery or complications. Others find it "absolutely ridiculous" how the media firestorm surrounding the Princess of Wales has escalated.

One royal insider claimed: "It's amusing how much of the world, in fact, will have egg on their faces when Kate shows back up perfectly fine for business as usual after Easter, which was announced months ago and has not changed."

Daily Express reported on Kate's missed event.