The Prince of Wales was spotted sharing a friendly hug and an intimate chat with his mother-in-law, before they both settled down to watch the racing action at Royal Ascot

The Princess of Wales cancelled her plans to attend Royal Ascot on Wednesday as she continues to find the right balance following her cancer treatment.

Her husband Prince William was there for the first day of the horse racing festival, however, and spent some time catching up with his mother-in-law, Carole Middleton. She was wearing a dress from luxury women’s designer ME+EM

They even shared a hug in their box and were spotted chatting animatedly. Carole, 70, was clearly having a great time and her joyous expression put paid to any malicious rumours about her daughter’s health.

Also joining William as the action got underway were a selection of old pals and royal cousins including Thomas and Lucy van Straubenzee, Thomas Meade, Lady Sarah Chatto, Lady Laura Meade and Alizee Thevenet, who is married to Kate’s brother James Middleton.

William is known to share a close bond with his in-laws, Carole and Michael Middleton, and she has even been described as his ‘second mum’. She enjoys making Prince William his favourite snack of cheese on toast and stocks up on the sea salt chocolates that he likes.

According to a source reported by the Daily Mail: “You could say that Kate and William, unlike most couples with a set of in-laws, feel most at their ease and happiest with her parents around. Tensions dissipate and there’s a party atmosphere.”

Carole Middleton joins in the fun in the box at Royal Ascot (Image: PA/Getty)
Carole is said to have helped the couple decorate their home at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, even moving in for a while to help with the interior design chores, and she also picks out William’s outfits (he has little patience for fashion).

Another source told the Mail: “He is in thrall to her capabilities, her tenacity, high-energy levels, her superb organisational skills and her networking. She above anyone else knows what makes Kate happy, what type of staff she will gel with, and understands her overriding need for loyalty and privacy. Carole leaves nothing to chance.”

Writing in her 2022 book The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil, royal commentator Tina Brown described how William enjoys nothing more than “tennis, TV and Carole’s creature comforts at the Middleton manse”.

Prince William, Prince of Wales attends day two of Royal Ascot (Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
William, 42, is said to enjoy the family normality he and brother Harry craved when they were growing up and Brown says he “adopted” Carole and Michael as surrogate parents in the early days of his relationship with Kate.

At Royal Ascot in 2024, he was pictured giving his mother-in-law a helping hand as her high heel got stuck in the turf. That was Carole and Michael’s first public appearance since their daughter’s cancer announcement and it was an encouraging signal that Kate was on the road to recovery.

Racegoers had been hoping to see the Princess, who was due to be in the second carriage in the royal procession with William and the English golfer Justin Rose and his wife. But Kensington Palace announced just before 12.30pm that Kate would not be attending – and a revised carriage list was published by Ascot, with William joining King Charles and Queen Camilla in the first carriage.