The Princess of Wales visited members of the Irish Guards at Mons Barracks today where she joined the traditional St Patrick’s Day parade, handing out sprigs of shamrock
The Princess of Wales celebrated St Patrick’s Day by carrying out a tradition that has become a fixture of her royal diary. Kate travelled to Mons Barracks, where she handed traditional sprigs of shamrock to members of the Irish Guards as they celebrate St Patrick’s Day today.
The princess, who dressed in traditional green, presented the shamrocks to the officers and guardsmen, who in turn issued it along the ranks, before presenting a special shamrock to Irish Wolf Hound Seamus, the regiment’s mascot. Kate is the colonel of the Irish Guards and for the for many years has carried out the task at the regiment’s St Patrick’s Day parade, where she took the salute.
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Following the parade today, Kate will award long service and good conduct medals to soldiers within the regiment then meet a group of Regimental Association Members of the Irish Guards and the ‘Mini Micks’, who are junior cadets from Northern Ireland. The Princess will then join the official Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess photographs.
After this, Kate will attend the Sergeants’ Mess to meet with members from the regiment and their families, to recognise the important contribution they make to supporting our Armed Forces.
The Irish Guards serve a dual role as world-class infantry soldiers, specialising in frontline combat roles requiring excellence in the use of Machine Guns, Anti-Tank missiles, Mortars, Reconnaissance, and Sniper capabilities, and, as the ceremonial personal bodyguard to the Monarch, are frequently seen guarding Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
After a sustained period of providing vital support to training the Ukrainian Armed forces, the Irish Guards are now committed to modernisation and remaining at the forefront of emerging operational capabilities and are now a leading force in building the UK’s drone warfare capability.
At last year’s parade, Kate made an emotional return to the event after beind forced to miss it in 2024, due to her abdominal surgery and cancer diagnosis.
And last year, not only did she hand out the shamrocks, it also emerged she put money behind the bar to buy those in the regiment a drink to toast their special day saying it’s the “least I can do”.
Kate was made Colonel of the Irish Guards back in December 2023. It came as William took over the position of Colonel of the Welsh Guard upon becoming the Prince of Wales, leaving Kate to take his place.
At Trooping the Colour, colonels usually wear full military uniform, with some even taking part in the parade on horseback. But Kate has only ever took part in a carriage and has not worn military uniform for the event.
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