Princess Kate let her 'protective' side slip during Trooping the Colour as she and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis were booed by protestors15:49, 16 Jun 2026Updated 15:49, 16 Jun 2026Anti-Royalists Boo and Jeer King at His Official BirthdayPrincess Kate is renowned for maintaining a flawless, pitch-perfect smile at high-profile public events. But during this year's Trooping the Colour, her royal composure faltered as she fiercely shielded her children from a barrage of anti-monarchy jeers.‌What is traditionally a highlight of the royal calendar turned tense when Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8 were left visibly shock and confused. Travelling down the Mall in an open top carriage alongside their mother to the monarch's official birthday, the young royals found themselves driving past a wall of anti-monarchy protesters.‌The demonstration was organised by activist group Republic, which targeted the event to demand answers over what the House of Windsor knew about the disgraced former Prince Andrew, and when.‌The hostile reception shattered the usual warmth of the royal procession. Body language expert Judi James told the Mirror that the sudden shift in the crowd’s energy left the young royals feeling "confused"."Charlotte and George look rather confused at this mean behaviour here," Judi James tells the Mirror. "Both looked to the side with some hint of curiosity although they either decided or were told to ignore the booing and carry on waving as usual after a small pause. George's micro tongue-poke looks like a gesture or rejection or discomfort.‌"All the children have momentarily lost their smiles, including Louis. Teaching children the skills of the kind of stoic and counterintuitive behaviours the royal need to have in their DNA must be difficult."Kate appears to be setting an example, but her facial expression appears to say it all here. Her regal smile is always pitch-perfect and virtually weather-proof but, with her children to protect and their open-topped carriage presumably making them suddenly feel rather vulnerable, her smile has dropped while her eye expression appears to have turned icy."‌Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor of the Sun and author of Prince Harry: The Inside Story, echoed these observations, noting the incident was an unprecedented shock for the Princess."Kate was likely quite shocked almost she like didn't really know how to respond, which is probably quite fair," the expert said. "For many years, she's walked on water and maintained significant popularity, so it was a little bit of a shock, I think, to her.""She's a protective mother and the kids didn't really know what to do. It was probably just a bit of a shock to them all."‌Jennie Bond told the Mirror that while the royals are used to dealing with protesters, the changing nature of them is hard to ignore.She said: "There's no denying that the Republican movement is making more of a splash – and more of a noise – these days. It’s obviously an embarrassment for the Royal Family and, for the first time, I think the movement is beginning to do some damage to the monarchy's popularity. But the royals really have no choice but to ignore the shouting and carry on."‌One of the major set piece events for the royals, Trooping the Colour took place under the backdrop of ongoing controversy, with the scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten Windsor continuing to generate headlines and debate. It recently emerged that more than 30,000 emails regarding Andrew's time as trade envoy - a position he held between 2001 and 2011 - were given to the Lord Chamberlain the most senior office in the royal household, in May 2020.It is alleged that these would have indicated that Andrew was sharing confidential information from his role and details about his finances, which he has denied. It is not known what happened to the cache of correspondence after they were "delivered to Buckingham Palace".Republic told the Mirror ahead of Trooping the Colour: "Our protests are increasingly important as they chime with growing public skepticism about the royals and anger about the perceived cover up of serious allegations. This year our focus at trooping will be on the Andrew allegations as we again ask ‘what did you know?’Article continues below"Our aim is more about message than numbers, making sure that question is visible to the royals and press while they parade down the mall. Trooping is the key royal spectacle of the year and we’re keen to ensure it doesn't go unchallenged while answers about corruption and abuse go unanswered."