Royal family shares post about Princess Sophie's new honour in absence of Kate

The royal family and King Charles have seemingly honoured Princess Sophie for her steadfastness, loyalty and devotion to the Firm at the time when two senior royals are battling cancer.

Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh, appeared in good spirits as she visited British Army Reservists during a major exercise in northern Germany.

The royal family's social media accounts have shared new photos of the Duchess as she visited soldiers stationed in Germany to learn more about the training they’re currently undertaking.

The photos, featuring the charming Sophie in military jacket, were captioned: "Her Royal Highness joined two regiments of which she is Colonel-in-Chief - the Queen’s Own Yeomanry Regiment and REME - on exercise at Normandy and Senelager Barracks.

The new post comes amid speculations about Princess Kate's appearance on Buckingham Palace Balcony at Trooping the Colour on June 15.

Kate, in her emotional message wrote: "Being your Colonel remains a great honour, and I am very sorry that I'm unable to take the salute at this year's Colonel's Review. Please pass my apologies to the whole Regiment, however I do hope that I am able to represent you all once again very soon. Please send my very best wishes and good luck to all involved."

Lady Louise's mother Sophie marked her first visit to the Regiment in the field by observing operational capabilities on Exercise Rhino Heart in Sennelager.

The Duchess of Edinburgh, while speaking to the troops, remarked: "The fact that you’ve been given the opportunity to prove that we’ve got an extremely capable and reliable reserve force is very exciting. From what I’ve seen, the atmosphere is really positive and upbeat, and everyone is getting a huge amount out of it. I wish you all the best for a successful exercise."

During her visit, she interacted with US National Guard reservists alongside the QOY, emphasising the robust international partnerships and camaraderie within NATO reserve forces.