Prince William reportedly invited Zara Tindall, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Peter Phillips, to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party on Tuesday, May 21, "via WhatsApp." His Royal Highness hosted the annual event for King Charles III and ensured that all 8,000 guests received traditional, ornate card invitations through the mail, but kept with the times when inviting his fellow millennial generation cousins.
"The cousins are all very close and always have been," a royal source told an outlet about the event. "I think people liked seeing them being there together and supporting each other."
The Prince of Wales invited his cousins, and Zara's spouse, Mike Tindall, to help round out the number of family members needed to chat with guests and make them feel welcomed at the iconic palace.
Under rainy skies, crowds gathered in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, umbrellas in hand, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the royals. The future king made his entrance dressed in grey pinstripe trousers and a black jacket, complemented by a light-colored waistcoat. Holding a long umbrella in one hand, he removed his black top hat with the other to greet the assembled crowd, which is a long-running tradition for male members of the monarchy at garden parties.
Eugenie, Beatrice, and Zara each wore pink and white attire. Beatrice donned a vibrant crimson dress with a white headband, while her younger sister opted for a white dress accented with a pink headpiece. Pink was certainly the color of choice when it came to royal coordination of attire.
The Prince of Wales is rumored to not be a fan of the monarchy's anticipated traditions that maintain the institution's long and colorful past of pomp and pageantry, but guests couldn't tell thanks to his commitment to the event.
"It is normal for the royal gentlemen to not particularly enjoy dressing in 16th or 19th-century clothing in the 20th and 21st centuries," a palace insider spilled. "In fact, there are reports suggesting both Queen Victoria and even Queen Elizabeth II didn't care for some of our monarchy's lacquered flummery and outlandish costumes. Prince Philip absolutely despised pomp and circumstance, but it is their duty, and getting rid of it would destroy the Crown."
William's lead at the event continues his busy streak of non-stop royal engagements after a break to care for his ailing spouse as she receives preventative chemotherapy treatments. The future monarch recently toured Cornwall for the first time as the region's Duke, following his accession to the hereditary position when his father became king. The Duchy of Cornwall is automatic for an heir apparent to the throne once their parent becomes sovereign.
GBN reported on the insider revelations.
