--- title: Kate Comforted Princess Charlotte at Trooping the Colour description: Princess Charlotte appeared to fall backward and started to cry at Trooping the Colour. Kate Middleton knelt down to comfort her. canonical: https://time.com/5304431/princess-charlotte-fell-trooping-the-colour/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-09T17:53:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:17.778Z og:title: Kate Middleton Comforted Princess Charlotte at Trooping the Colour og:description: The little princess fell during her big moment and started to cry og:url: https://time.com/5304431/princess-charlotte-fell-trooping-the-colour/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1b8105c0f6d38/698932acdb2987705125fe39/princess-charlotte-trooping-the-colour-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2372 og:image:height: 1334 og:image:alt: Trooping The Colour 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kate Middleton Comforted Princess Charlotte at Trooping the Colour twitter:description: The little princess fell during her big moment and started to cry twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1b8105c0f6d38/698932acdb2987705125fe39/princess-charlotte-trooping-the-colour-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kate Middleton Comforted Princess Charlotte After She Fell During Her Big Moment at Trooping the Colour > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 9, 2018 5:53 PM UTC  Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge during Trooping The Colour 2018 on June 9, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge during Trooping The Colour 2018 on June 9, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images) Mark Cuthbert—UK Press via Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 9, 2018 5:53 PM UTC For the British Royal Family, [Trooping the Colour 2018](http://time.com/5261475/trooping-the-colour-2018-date-details) served as a joyous event to celebrate the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II — and gave fans another look into the extraordinary lives of the royal family. But the annual event also offered a moment every mother can relate to. At one point while standing on the balcony, Princess Charlotte appeared to fall backward and started to cry. Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, immediately knelt down to comfort her then held her as the parade continued. Princess Charlotte, 4, appeared to enjoy the rest of the parade, clapping alongside her brother Prince George and Savannah Phillips, their cousin. Together George and Charlotte conspired to steal the show – per usual. Although this time, Savannah Phillips proved to be the real queen – next to the actual Queen of course. Savannah, the daughter of Peter Phillips – the son of Princess Anne and the Queen’s oldest grandson, [put her hand over George’s mouth](http://time.com/5307048/savannah-phillips-prince-george-trooping-the-colour/) and then shushed the future king to stop him from talking so much.  (From left to right) Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice, Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. (Front row, left to right) Peter Phillips, Autumn Phillips, Isla Phillips and Savannah Phillips on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour on June 9, 2018 in London, England Chris Jackson—Getty Images Trooping the Colour is a longstanding tradition that celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday. Queen Elizabeth II already turned 92 years old on her real birthday, April 21\. But the monarchy holds the event on the second Saturday in June to celebrate in the sun, and it’s replete with military drills galore. You better believe there was both pomp and circumstance. But there’s no place like a balcony above the thousands who crowded the streets to put little kids to the test. Overseen by their mother Kate Middleton, the two did their best royal official duties. Prince George wore his signature shorts look, but perhaps most noteworthy were his wide-ranging facial expressions when time came for the balcony photo. Aside from Princess Charlotte’s fall, she worked her charm by showing off [her excellent waving skills](http://time.com/5251283/prince-charlotte-and-prince-george-have-very-on-brand-reactions-to-their-new-baby-brother/). Their new younger brother Prince Louis did not attend the Trooping of Colour, as, at just seven weeks old, he was too young to participate, [according to _People_](https://people.com/royals/wheres-prince-louis-why-the-littlest-royal-is-absent-from-trooping-the-colour/). To read more about Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s adorable royal appearances in the past, read more of TIME’s coverage [here](http://time.com/5047559/george-charlotte-weddings/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5304431/princess-charlotte-fell-trooping-the-colour/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5304431/princess-charlotte-fell-trooping-the-colour/"},"headline":"Kate Middleton Comforted Princess Charlotte After She Fell During Her Big Moment at Trooping the Colour","datePublished":"2018-06-09T17:53:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:17.778Z","description":"Princess Charlotte appeared to fall backward and started to cry at Trooping the Colour. 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