Kate Middleton takes on new army role as shake-up of senior royal military positions is explained

Ahead of next year’s Trooping the Colour, Buckingham Palace have announced changes to senior royal military positions.

Kate Middleton is now colonel of the Irish Guards (which her husband Prince William used to be). The Prince of Wales has now become colonel of the Welsh Guards instead.

The Queen Consort is now Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and has taken over from the Duke of York, who has lost his military titles.

When the Duke of Edinburgh retired from public life in 2017, Prince Andrew inherited his position of Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

The role of the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards is seen as a very important role as the late Queen Elizabeth 11 had a special relationship with the Grenadier Guards throughout her role.

According to the British Army website, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 held the position of Company Commander of the Grenadier Guards’ Queen’s Company and made a personal review of the Company every ten years.”

Although it is reported that Kate Middleton is not expected to wear a uniform, the move to make her colonel of the Irish Guards indicates her seniority in the Royal family.

Since marrying Prince William, she has honoured the Irish Guards by attending engagements with the regiment.

This year, Kate Middleton and Prince William joined the Irish Guards for the first St Patrick’s Day celebration since the start of the pandemic. For the event, Kate looked chic in a deep green coat dress by designer Laura Green London and a hat by Lock & Co. She and Prince William handed out traditional sprigs of shamrock to the officers and guardsmen.

Kate also paid tribute to the shamrock by wearing a gold shamrock brooch. She also gave a sprig of shamrock to the Irish Wolf Hound regimental mascot, a dog, called Turlough Mor (also known as Seamus).

Buckingham Palace has also announced that Trooping the Colour (the King’s Birthday Parade) will take place on 17 June 2023. His coronation ceremony is on 6 May 2023.