Prince William takes on key royal duty as Kate Middleton returns

Princess Kate delighted fans as she made her surprise appearance with her husband at Windsor soon after Prince William presented a host of British stars with awards at a Windsor Castle investiture ceremony on Monday.

The Prince and Princess of Wales social media accounts shared stunning moments of William's role with caption: "Congratulations to everyone who received honours at Windsor today!

"It was a pleasure to have @lizhatton_photography helping us to capture these special moments."

Kate Middleton appeared in high spirit as she meet with Liz, a talented young photographer battling cancer, at Windsor.

It comes after the Prince of Wales hosted the presentation at Windsor, with ex-Scotland footballer Ally McCoist receiving an OBE for services to football and broadcasting.

Two of Britain's sporting greats shared a sweet moment after joining the future King as they compared their awards. Cyclist Sir Mark Cavendish showed Karen Carney his knighthood medal, then the former England footballer let him take a look at her Order of the British Empire.

Carney, 37, held out her award and said 'that was amazing', before Sir Mark, 39, asked her: 'Can I see yours?' - and she happily replied: 'Course you can, yeah.'

Carney added: 'Yours is pretty special, congratulations - it's amazing, but I should call you sir, now.' But as she said this, Sir Mark's wife Peta, the former glamour model and Page 3 Girl, walked past and looked at her as she joked: 'Don't encourage him.'