Kate Middleton Skips Annual Windsor Castle Reception as Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla Host

The Princess of Wales didn’t join her family at the royal event

Queen Camilla, King Charles III, Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales pose for a photograph ahead of The Diplomatic Reception in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace

Queen Camilla, King Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton attend Diplomatic Corps reception on Dec. 5, 2023.Credit : 

Kate Middleton didn’t join Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla for an annual event on the royal calendar.

On Nov. 18, the Princess of Wales, 43, missed the Diplomatic Reception at Windsor Castle.

Buckingham Palace announced the event on Tuesday that King Charles, 77, and Queen Camilla, 78, would host, accompanied by Prince William, 43.

Princess Kate had stepped out earlier in the day on Nov. 18, attending The Future Workforce Summit in London. The summit was organized by The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood from her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and she delivered her first speech there in two years.

Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales talks with attendees during the Future Workforce Summit

Kate Middleton attends the Future Workforce Summit in London on Nov. 18, 2025.Adrian Dennis – WPA Pool/Getty

Princess Kate last attended the Diplomatic Reception in December 2023, where she shimmered in a pink sequin Jenny Packham and the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara, the most frequently worn tiara in her rotation.

The Princess of Wales also wasn’t present at the event last year, as she reduced her royal duties in 2024 after announcing that March that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. She said in September that she completed chemotherapy treatment and shared in January of this year that she is in remission.

Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla arrives at a reception for The Diplomatic Corps at Windsor Castle, west of London on November 18, 2025.

King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince William attend reception for The Diplomatic Corps at Windsor Castle on Nov. 18, 2025.ANDREW MATTHEWS/POOL/AFP via Getty

The Diplomatic Reception is an annual event hosted by the sovereign and is organized to recognize the members of the Diplomatic Corps in London, one of the largest in the world.

The reception allows the royals to meet representatives of the countries accredited to the Court of St. James.

Tonight’s Diplomatic Reception will be the first time that the bash has been held at Windsor Castle since 2001, bringing the event back to the castle for the first time in 24 years. Buckingham Palace, the traditional venue for the reception, is undergoing renovations, and recent state visits have similarly been held at Windsor Castle instead of the palace in London.

The event fell on the eve of the Royal Variety Performance, which Prince William and Princess Kate are set to attend tomorrow.