Everywhere the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, has been in the last two decades, the world has been with her.

The announcement of royal appearance from the future Queen of England is enough to secure press coverage, pandemonium among Royalists and unfettered joy among her most ardent and fiercest supporters.

But nobody, not even the Princess of Wales herself, could’ve anticipated the warm welcome she’d receive when she attended the men’s singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Wearing a bi-partisan purple Safiyaa dress, Kate, who is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, put her most diplomatic foot forward as she stepped out in SW19, marking a temporary return to public life.

But it wasn’t merely Kate’s appearance that garnered headlines, it was the reaction of the very people she has appealed to since revealing her cancer diagnosis, the same people that she has dutifully served since becoming a Princess, that warmed hearts across the world.
As she entered the Royal Box with Princess Charlotte and her sister, Pippa Middleton, ripples of the audiences stood to mark their respect until almost every member of the crowd at court one was on their feet and applauding her. Middleton beamed at her younger sister, as Kate, visibly moved by the audience’s response, softly waved her hand and smiled.

These are difficult times for the royal family. They’re times that prove that infamy and influence can’t inoculate you from the very pressures that threaten to crush all of us. But to watch a woman, who is believed to still be undergoing treatment for cancer, be received with such love and support was a timely reminder that our actions have the ability to bolster even the weakest of spirits. Even the most Republican among us could not ignore the strength of the imagery; that a woman, who more intimately than just an apolitical figurehead, is also a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend, battling cancer showed up to fulfil a prior commitment with her head held high and a smile spread across on her face was a show of strength and solidarity in increasingly tremulous times. It proved that Kate is a solid and reliable role model, that she understands the requirements of being royal in our very modern world.

Her university years, the day of her wedding, the birth of her children. We, the British public, have grown up alongside the future Queen of England, and it’s been this sense of ownership that has challenged the public amid her understandable disappearance from public life to focus on her recovery. But this second public appearance in recent months from Kate proved that it is the very stoicism and strength that she employed on Sunday that make her the adored role model that she continues to be to so many.

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