Kate Middleton comforted at Remembrance by small touch from 'protective' Sophie Wessex

The Princess of Wales solemnly paid tribute to the nation's war dead with one of her most poignant appearances since her cancer diagnosis.

Kate, 42, made a rare public appearance at Remembrance Sunday yesterday, where she watched the moving ceremony at the Cenotaph from the traditional balcony. In previous years, Kate has stood alongside Queen Camilla with their pair watching their husbands, King Charles and Prince William, laying wreaths at the foot of the memorial on Whitehall.

But Camilla was forced to pull out of the event as she recovers from a chest infection, leaving Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, to step in to stand shoulder to shoulder with the princess as support.

Sophie is known to be close to Kate, so much so that she's been dubbed her 'royal sister'. At the end of the poignant ceremony, the Duchess was seen placing a protective comforting arm around Kate as they headed inside the Foreign Office.

And body language expert Judi James told the Mirror : "Sophie was clearly in the role of temporary stand-in for William. She chatted to Kate on the balcony as the two women stood side-by-side and despite Kate's impeccable appearance of confidence as she stood in the spot that used to belong to the late Queen, Sophie appeared to be keeping a watchful eye over her as Anne has clearly been keeping over brother Charles.

"It was the small touch or even pat on the back as Kate walked ahead inside the building that seemed to not only offer a form of maternal affection, caring and reassurance or even congratulation to her niece-in-law, but it also looked like the visible proof to William that Kate is in very safe and caring royal hands when he is not there by her side.

Yesterday was the first time Kate carried out two consecutive days of public official engagements this year, with the princess attending the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening.

Her high-profile appearance comes after the Prince of Wales candidly described how 2024 had been brutal and "probably been the hardest year in my life", with both Kate and the King diagnosed with cancer.

On the princess’s coat were three red poppies, often rumoured to be in honour of her great-grandmother’s three brothers, who all lost their lives in the First World War. Her diamond and pearl drop earrings belonged to the late Queen, and she also wore her silver Queen’s Dragoon Guards brooch – in a nod to her role as the regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief – beneath her poppies.

The princess made her first ever appearance at the service as the Duchess of Cambridge 13 years ago, seven months after she married William, joining the royal family and becoming an HRH. She was pictured in 2011 in a black double-breasted coat by Diane von Furstenberg and a small-brimmed hat with a large bow by couture milliner Jane Corbett.

Kate has attended every year since, including in 2020 when she took to the balcony, standing socially distanced from Camilla, during the Covid pandemic when the increasingly frail late Elizabeth II missed the service due to a sprained back.