{"id":350842,"date":"2026-03-17T14:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/350842\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:12:14","slug":"princess-of-wales-looks-radiant-in-green-as-she-visits-irish-guards-for-st-patricks-day-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/350842\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess of Wales looks radiant in green as she visits Irish Guards for St Patrick’s Day parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Princess of Wales<\/a>\u00a0looked radiant in green as she visited the\u00a0Irish Guards for their annual St Patrick’s Day parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Princess Catherine, who is colonel of the regiment, greeted officers and guardsmen at Mons Barracks in Aldershot this morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was seen presenting sprigs of shamrock to members of the regiment – and even to their mascot,\u00a0an Irish wolfhound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kate was also pictured smiling as she received the shamrock herself, which is the symbol of Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She donned an elegant dark green coat with a matching-coloured hat topped with a large bow, for the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kate finished the outfit with a black scarf, gloves, high-heeled boots and a belt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She wore her hair up and opted for a pair of rarely seen\u00a0emerald and diamond earrings, which she wore at the Earthshot Awards in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Princess adorned the\u00a0outfit with a delicate gold shamrock brooch by Cartier, loaned by the Irish Guards.<\/p>\n

\"Princess <\/p>\n

Princess Catherine, who is colonel of the regiment, greeted officers and guardsmen at Mons Barracks in Aldershot this morning<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales is seen meeting the regiment’s mascot, an Irish wolfhound\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales donned an elegant green coat and hat as visited the Irish Guards for a St Patrick’s Day parade<\/p>\n

\"She <\/p>\n

She wore her hair up and opted for a pair of rarely seen emerald and diamond earrings, which she wore at the Earthshot Awards in 2022<\/p>\n

The annual event will come to an end with a royal salute from the Princess, 44, as the guardsmen complete a march-past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kate is also due to award medals to soldiers with long service and good conduct.<\/p>\n

Additionally, she will meet the ‘Mini Micks’ who are junior cadets from Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Last year, Princess Catherine marked her first solo St Patrick’s Day parade as colonel of the Irish Guards.<\/p>\n

She enjoyed\u00a0a half pint of Guinness with the troops and their families and also put money behind the bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In previous years, she would attend the event with her husband\u00a0Prince William<\/a>, who formerly held the position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Princess Kate was awarded the title of Colonel of the Irish Guards in 2023 but was forced to miss the parade the following year as she underwent treatment for cancer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024,\u00a0the guardsman gave three cheers for the absent princess.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales walks to present sprigs of shamrock to officers and guardsmen at the event in Aldershot\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"As <\/p>\n

As Colonel of the Irish Guards, she was invited to attend the regiment’s annual celebration of the patron saint of Ireland<\/p>\n

\"Last <\/p>\n

Last year, Princess Catherine marked her first solo St Patrick’s Day parade as colonel of the Irish Guards<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales, in her role as Colonel of the Regiment, during a visit to the 1st Battalion Irish Guards<\/p>\n

The Irish Guards were founded in 1900 by Queen Victoria, and the custom of handing out shamrocks began in 1901, introduced by her daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra.<\/p>\n

The shamrock, with its three heart-shaped leaves, is particularly associated with Ireland and said to symbolise the Holy Trinity – representing both faith and country.<\/p>\n

Each year on St Patrick’s Day shamrocks are distributed to the Irish Guards who serve in the British Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

During times of war shamrocks are sent to troops on active duty, often placed inside their Kevlar helmets for good luck.<\/p>\n

For those stationed at home, the highest honour is to receive the shamrock directly from a senior royal.<\/p>\n

This duty became a hallmark of the Queen Mother until her death.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Princess Anne continued the tradition for some time, but since 2012 it has been carried out by Kate, as William served as the Royal Regiment Colonel.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Irish Guards were founded in 1900 by Queen Victoria, and the custom of handing out shamrocks began in 1901. Pictured: Princess Kate at today’s parade\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Princess <\/p>\n

Princess Catherine smiles as she is handed a shamrock at the parade today\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Princess <\/p>\n

Princess Kate was awarded the title of Colonel of the Irish Guards in 2023 but was forced to miss the parade the following year as she underwent treatment for cancer<\/p>\n

In a nod to Ireland’s national day, Kate typically wears outfits in varying shades of green.<\/p>\n

She broke from the tradition only once in 2015 when she opted for a chestnut brown ensemble.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Princess of Wales\u00a0looked radiant in green as she visited the\u00a0Irish Guards for their annual St Patrick’s Day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[539,93,61,60,4827],"class_list":["post-350842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dailymail","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-royals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}