Royal news live: King, Queen and William host glittering reception at Buckingham Palace but Kate stays away

The Princess Royal has officially opened the £145 million Gull Wing Bridge – the largest rolling bascule bridge in the world.

Anne pressed a button to open the distinctive crossing, which spans Lake Lothing in Lowestoft, Suffolk, triggering the lifting of the hydraulic cylinders to allow the Excelsior, a traditional Lowestoft fishing smack, to pass through.

Her arrival on Tuesday afternoon was delayed by almost an hour due to disruptions caused by bad weather.

The King’s sister, dressed in a red jacket, tartan skirt and knee high boots, donned a beige overcoat and red scarf for her walk across the bridge in the chilly conditions.

During her tour of the long-awaited crossing, she was seen standing and peering up at the bascule span’s huge white posts – which resemble the wings of a gull and inspired local children to come up with its name.

The King and Queen are to host a glittering diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace.

The Prince of Wales will attend the annual white tie and tiara event at the palace on Tuesday evening, but the Princess of Wales, who is often a regular attendee, will not be present.

Each year, hundreds of members of the Diplomatic Corps are welcomed to the palace’s state rooms for the grand affair – the showcase of the diplomatic year in the UK.

In 2023, Kate, in a floor-length pale pink dress by Jenny Packham, wore the Lover’s Knot Tiara, a diamond and pearl-encrusted headpiece made in 1914, which was often worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Kate, who finished her chemotherapy treatment in the summer and is gradually returning to public duties as she recovers from cancer, is focusing on hosting her annual Christmas carol concert in Westminster Abbey on December 6.

The Queen last year opted for the late Queen’s favourite Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara.

Camilla, who has just recovered from a nasty chest infection, may not stay for the whole of the event depending on how she is feeling, having returned to shortened engagements this week after her illness.

The diplomatic reception is traditionally held in early December in the run-up to Christmas rather than in November. But the King is hosting an incoming state visit by the Emir of Qatar in the first week of December.

More than 900 people will attend Tuesday’s reception including foreign ambassadors and high commissioners based in the UK, their spouses or partners, and diplomatic staff. The evening usually includes a buffet supper and dancing.

Her diagnosis came in the same year as the King was also diagnosed with cancer. Her husband Prince William has spoken candidly about the royal family’s major health scares, saying 2024 has “probably been the hardest year in my life” and a “dreadful” experience.

My colleague Athena Stavrou writes:

An armed royal protection officer who lied about losing a bullet in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and covered it up for eight days has been sacked.

Stephen Cotgreave, based within the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection, was on foot patrol alone in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on the afternoon of December 6 2022 when he accidentally dropped the magazine from his firearm.

He picked up the magazine and placed it back inside the gun but when he returned the firearm to the armoury at the end of his shift an hour later, it was found that one round of ammunition was missing.

The officer, who was 48 at the time, was then asked if he could explain the missing bullet but he insisted he could not and denied dropping the magazine.

The incident, which was captured on CCTV, “should have led to an immediate and full search of the area” and posed a risk to the welfare of the royal household, a misconduct hearing heard on Monday.

The appearance marked the first time Kate had carried out commitments on two consecutive days since she was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the year.

Kate looked on at the Remembrance Sunday service as the King, who is still undergoing treatment for his own cancer diagnosis, led the nation in a two-minute silence to honour fallen servicemen and women.

My colleague Athena Stavrou reports:

The Duke of Sussex has spoken of the “profound impact” launching a schools programme ahead of the Invictus Games had on him at an event in Canada.

Harry travelled solo to launch the programme for the 2025 event, which is due to be held in Vancouver and Whistler in February.

He marked the countdown by joining students at Seaforth Armoury, a historic military facility, where he launched an online programme to introduce the Invictus Games into schools.

“Seeing them learn about the Invictus Games has had a profound impact on me because this is where Invictus starts to go even wider outside of the Invictus community, into schools in Canada and hopefully around the world,” he said.

Harry, a former British Army captain, launched the Invictus Games in 2014 as an international sports tournament for injured and wounded service personnel and returned veterans.

Addressing the crowd, the Duke also spoke of his emotions in seeing returned service personnel at the Games’ opening ceremony.

“You need to understand what that means to them because that can be a life-altering moment,” he said.

“There’s resilience that has got them there. There’s teamwork that has managed to get them to the starting line, and there’s courage in getting them to that point.

“For most of them, for some of them, it’s very hard to walk into a busy room, and here they are walking into a stadium of tens of thousands of people.”

During what was perhaps the lowest point in her reign, the late Queen delivered a sobering speech famously labelling 1992 her “annus horribilis”.

Now – over 30 years later – her grandson has had what he believes to be his own ‘annus horribilis’.

William has spoken candidly about the royal family’s major health scares, saying 2024 has “probably been the hardest year in my life” and a “dreadful” experience.

My colleague Athena Stavrou reports:

The Princess of Wales will host her annual Christmas carol concert, with the service reflecting on “how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives”.

The princess set her sights on being able to stage the Together At Christmas service in 2024 despite the health challenges she has faced, and it forms part of her gradual return to public duties after finishing chemotherapy treatment in the summer.

My colleague Jabed Ahmed has the full story: