The Royal Ascot is one of those rare occasions each year where we get to see the full royal family (and a few royally adjacent folks) make a splashy public appearance. This year, we got King Charles, Queen Camilla (and her $2.5 million brooch), Prince William—even Kate Middleton's mom, Carole Middleton, made an appearance (and didn't have any shoe trouble this time). Missing, however, was Princess Catherine after a last minute cancelation.

Kensington Palace hasn’t commented on the reason for the change, but outlets including The Times and Vanity Fair confirmed Princess Catherine's absence was a late decision. In all likelihood, her cancelation has to do with not overexerting herself in light of her health issues (and the current heat wave in Britain).

We did get a super striking portrait of her husband though. Kensington Palace released a series of images, but the first one caught my eye immediately.