The Princess of Wales—Colonel Catherine—was ready to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with the Irish Guards on March 17, arriving for a day with her regiment in Aldershot.
Catherine arrived for the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade at Mons Barracks and handed out shamrocks to the officers and guardsmen, as well as to their regimental mascot, an Irish Hound named Turlough Mor, or more commonly known as Seamus.
In a jam-packed morning, Catherine also presented long service and good conduct medals, met with the Regimental Association Members and ‘Mini Micks’—junior cadets from Northern Ireland—and posed for the Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess photograph.
The future queen also met with regiment members and their families in the Mess to help recognise the role they play in the British Armed Forces.
Speaking with Sky News after Catherine’s visit, Lance Sergeant Mills said meeting the future queen was “such a great opportunity,” and something his daughter, Vienna, had been looking forward to all week.
LS Mills’s wife, Jessica, said that Catherine was “just so easy to talk to, and really down to earth. I wasn’t actually expecting that. It’s my first time getting to come to the parade, so it was really lovely.”
Catherine wore a deep green coat dress with black accessories and the regimental brooch of the Irish Guards. The Regimental Brooch of the Irish Guards features an eight-point star in the shape of that belonging to the Order of St. Patrick—the patron saint of Ireland—with a shamrock in the centre overlaid on a cross of St. Patrick.
The motto that wraps around the shamrock and cross reads ‘Quis separtabit’, which means ‘Who will separate us?’ It serves as the motto of the Order of St. Patrick and also holds special meaning to the Irish regiments of the British Army.
Her jewellery was otherwise simple: a pair of diamond and emerald earrings that she previously debuted at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Boston in 2022.
Catherine accompanied her husband to the St Patrick’s Day parade when he was Colonel of the Irish Guards from 2012 to 2022; following this, she was named Colonel of the Regiment by her father-in-law, King Charles.
On the Kensington Palace Instagram account, Catherine shared an Irish message: “Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh!” which means “Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!”
