Catherine, Princess of Wales appearance at Trooping of the Colour gave royal fans what they needed

Stepping onto the Buckingham Palace balcony after Trooping the Colour, the Princess of Wales looked like she hadn’t missed a beat during her six months away from the public eye.

Colour-coded children under control, upcycled dress that wouldn’t upstage, smile matching that of her husband and the in-laws. Tick, tick, tick. Kate’s glossy My Fair Lady return was a masterclass in not just doing what you do best to keep the masses happy, but in controlling the narrative.

While all eyes were on the princess, somewhere in the private tangle of offices at Kensington Palace, her communications team must have been high-fiving like mad. Successfully producing a happy, healthy-looking princess is their best PR move since the global fiasco surrounding news of her shock cancer diagnosis.

Of course, having the mother-of-three back on the job briefly opened the gates for new conspiracy theories, ironically because she looked so awesome. Kate’s glossy hair, radiant skin, were proof that what she’s really been recovering from is a facelift, it was claimed.

Yeah, that would totally be the reason. Not that she’s had world’s best practice treatments and six months of country seclusion with no stylists, no shaking hands with strangers, no schedules, just private time to think about summer clothes for her kids and the rubbish new Bridgerton.

And she’s had the benefit of truth serum.

Of finding out the hard way that being upfront is the way to go. That saying it like it is and letting the cards fall really is easier than the alternative.

A quick caveat: when honesty involves parts which are called private for a reason, it doesn’t always feel terrific.

Not wanting randoms to rummage mentally in her gynaecological bits, Kate has never said which part of her abdomen is being treated. King Charles stopped short of identifying his own cancer zone, lest we automatically think of his penis when we see him.