On Friday, Prince William played his annual (annual-ish) charity polo match in Windsor. William stopped playing polo for a few years during the pandemic, and one of my pet theories is that William believed his brother had given up polo, which is why William stopped playing at the time. When Harry started playing polo again in California, suddenly William was back to playing as well. The big news from Friday’s polo game was that William’s wife didn’t come out to cheer him on or present a trophy. She skipped it last year as well.
Prince William hit the polo field solo on Friday as Kate Middleton continues to ease back into public duties following her cancer treatment. The Prince of Wales, 43, competed in the annual Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club on July 11, one of his favorite summer traditions. Sporting a blue jersey with the number 4, William took the field on horseback against the scenic backdrop of Windsor Castle.
While Kate, 43, did not attend, her absence reflects the careful pace she is taking as she resumes royal life after revealing last month that the post-treatment phase of her cancer recovery has been “very difficult.”
“She’s being sensible, listening to what her body is telling her and easing back into public life,” Queen Elizabeth’s former spokeswoman Ailsa Anderson told PEOPLE in a recent cover story.
Although Princess Kate missed the event, Prince William did have a familiar face in the crowd to support him: his cousin Peter Phillips, who attended with his girlfriend, Harriet Sperling.
Despite Kate’s absence, the couple’s shared charitable mission remained front and center. Proceeds from the event benefit 10 causes supported by the Prince and Princess of Wales, including Child Bereavement UK, the Anna Freud Centre, We Are Farming Minds, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and more. According to Kensington Palace, this year’s match brought the total raised since its inception to over $18 million.
I think this was a rare moment when William and Kate were in agreement – William didn’t want her there, and she didn’t want to go. She had already done events around the Macrons’ state visit, and she clearly already planned to attend the Wimbledon championship weekend, so why would she stand out in the heat watching her husband muck about with horses? William was much more at ease without Kate there, as we’ve seen many times before. It actually reminded me of the now forgotten storyline being pushed by Kensington Palace in the fall of 2023, which is that William and Kate were barely going to do events together anymore and he was going to start behaving more like a hot single father. Speaking of, the Kensington Palace team put together another fan-cam for Willy:
Raising money for some incredible charities
pic.twitter.com/KSQLvpqiYK
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 11, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
