Princess of Wales hands out shamrock sprigs and medals to Irish Guards on St Patrick's Day
The Princess of Wales has attended the Irish Guards St Patrick's Day Parade at Wellington Barracks, presenting sprigs of shamrock and service medals.
Kate is colonel of the regiment and missed the Guards' celebrations last year after being diagnosed with cancer.
Her Royal Highness joined the regiment for their traditional parade, with troops from Number 9 and Number 12 Company, as well as the Rear Operations Group, marching onto the parade square.
Attending the event, she handed out the shamrock to personnel and the regimental mascot, an Irish Wolf Hound named Turlough Mor, who led the parade.
Drummer Joseph Aldridge, Turlogh Mor's handler, said his job is to make sure the dog is "well fed, well looked after", but also to "lead him on significant parades".
He said it was nice to "show off the mascot and… all the hard work that we've been rehearsing for".
"It's a celebration for past, present and future," he said. "We have obviously had cadets here today to watch this parade celebrating the past of the fallen soldiers who have celebrated this day.
"I've done a few St Patrick's Day already in my time serving in the Irish Guards.
"I'm normally with the Pipe Bands, but this is a nice, fresh change of pace."
Meanwhile, officers from the regiment deployed in eastern England paused their training of Ukrainian troops to present shamrocks to their recruits as part of Operation Interflex, a UK-led programme providing battlefield skills to Ukrainian soldiers.
The Irish Guards have played a key role in the programme, which has trained more than 45,000 Ukrainian recruits since Russia's full-scale invasion.
After the parade, Kate posed for official photographs with the regiment and joined soldiers for half a pint of Guinness in the Junior Ranks cookhouse.
She later visited the sergeants' mess, where she met families of soldiers and heard about their experiences.
Sergeant Michael Flood, Irish Guards, told BFBS Forces News the tradition of presenting the shamrock dates back 125 years.
"The first shamrock was presented on 17th of March 1901 and we're very lucky in the Irish Guards a senior member of the royal family will come and present the shamrock to us," he said.
"It's a great moment for the old and bold, those serving, to come and just meet up and meet each other."
Sgt Flood said the shamrock will be flown out to wherever personnel are serving.
"No matter where you are in the world, the shamrock will find you," he said.
"But it could be a bit brown by the time it gets to you."
The day's celebrations concluded with a toast in the officers' and sergeants' mess, where Lieutenant Colonel Irwin-Clark praised the regiment's "commitment to operations worldwide" and reflected on its proud 125-year history.
Personnel recently deployed in Iraq also received medals for their service overseas, with the operational medals presented by the Princess of Wales.
Kate also awarded long service and good conduct medals, before the solo visit ended with a march-past where the princess took the salute as colonel.
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