Kate Middleton all smiles as she arrives at garden party with Prince William at Buckingham Palace

WILLIAM and Kate grinned at crowds at the first post-coronation garden party this afternoon.

The smiling Prince and Princess of Wales looked relaxed as they chatted to guests at the royal event in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

Dressed in a powder blue Ellie Saab dress and Philip Treacy hat, recycled from Royal Ascot in 2019, Kate walked down the steps alongside her smartly-dressed husband.

The couple then interacted with attendees, who lined the lawns before being served tea and cakes.

Their children, George, Charlotte and Louis, who stole the show over the bank holiday weekend, returned to school today so are not present.

But Wills and Kate are joined by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Anne.

The King is missing the get-together after getting back to the day job following a busy weekend of coronation celebrations.

Charles, 74, visited the eco-friendly Whittle Lab at the University of Cambridge earlier today.

The centre recently secured funding to develop a new £58million lab to find ways to achieve net zero in aviation and energy.

Wearing a grey suit, the newly-crowned monarch got a tour on new technologies and spoke to academics, aviation leaders and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps and science minister George Freeman.

As he walked to perform the ceremonial breaking of the ground, where a lump of mud was already visible on the grass, he joked: “I don’t suppose it’s already been done?”

Charles added: “It’s very unfair. I was rather looking forward to doing a bit of gardening.”

The King then sank the spade into the earth, using his foot to help lift a lump of turf out, before raising it aloft.

He jabbed the spade into the ground, leaving it standing, and walked to the stage where he gave a short speech expressing his “enormous admiration” for the work of the laboratory.

The King, who arrived in a Bentley to tour the existing lab, which he has visited twice before, in 2020 and in 2022, attended a collaborative roundtable meeting to discuss potential future pathways to a sustainable aviation industry.

He later unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion, watched by about 170 invited guests including university students and staff.

Many others, who had noticed that something was happening, lined the nearby pavement to catch a glimpse of the King from behind a rope cordon manned by police.

During his speech, Charles said: “I can’t tell you what a joy it is to be here, my third visit.

“I think you’ll probably be getting fed up of them by now.

“But I really wanted just to express my enormous admiration of what (director of the Whittle Laboratory) Rob Miller is doing here with the Whittle and his remarkable team.

“And of course the key exercise of all this is to keep the team in being and expand it, but not lose all these remarkable people who have the innovative capacity and the engineering skills to help lead what we need so badly and so urgently in order to save this planet from increasing catastrophe.

“And of course the aviation sector is critical in all this.

“So, I just wanted to offer my warmest congratulations to all those here, particularly as an old graduate of Cambridge University, albeit an arts one.”

The Whittle Laboratory, an aerospace and energy lab, was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, who founded the company that invented the jet engine while still an undergraduate at Cambridge.

Over the last 50 years, it has helped shape the propulsion and power sectors through industry partnerships with Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens.

The new lab is designed to become the leading global centre for disruptive innovation in net zero aviation and energy, bringing together experts from research and industry.

It aims to halve the time it takes to develop key technologies towards net zero aviation and energy, which can typically take six to eight years to reach the point of being considered for commercial use.

Trials have indicated timeframes could be accelerated by breaking down silos that exist between academia and industry.

As Charles left, someone in the crowd shouted “God save the King”.

BACK TO WORK

Also returning to official engagements on Tuesday is Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh who will visit Morden College in Blackheath, London, of which she is a patron, while Edward, the duke, will attend a dinner at Stonehage Fleming at St James’s Square for his patron charity, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation.

As the coronation festivities came to a close last night, the King and Queen pledged to rededicate their lives to service as Charles called the nation’s support throughout the historic celebrations “the greatest possible gift”.

In his special coronation message, Charles said: “We thank you, each and every one.”

Traditional official portraits marking the double crowning were released to round off the monarchy’s landmark occasion.

Among them, the King was captured in his full regalia – wearing the Imperial State Crown, holding the Orb and Sceptre with Cross, and dressed in his regal purple tunic and Robe of Estate, seated on a Throne Chair in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.

Camilla was pictured alongside the King, and also in a solo portrait, wearing Queen Mary’s Crown, with the train of her lengthy embroidered Robe of Estate spread in front of her.

The working royal family – the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Edinburghs, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of Kent, the Gloucesters and Princess Alexandra – were also photographed stood with the King and Queen in the images by Hugo Burnand.

The Duke of York – who stepped down from being a working royal after his controversial Newsnight interview – was missing from the family group of royals in the official coronation portraits released so far.

Andrew, who was at the coronation in his Order of the Garter robes, paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case last year.

The Duke of Sussex was also missing, no longer being a working royal, and having headed back to California shortly after the coronation ceremony.

The King, signing his words Charles R, said he and Camilla gave “our most sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped to make this such a special occasion”.

The now-crowned monarch used his coronation message to issue an affirmation for the rest of his reign, saying he and Camilla would “now rededicate our lives” to royal service.

He added: “To know that we have your support and encouragement, and to witness your kindness expressed in so many different ways, has been the greatest possible Coronation gift, as we now rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and Commonwealth.”

The King also paid tribute to the “countless people who have given their time and dedication to ensuring that the celebrations in London, Windsor and further afield were as happy, safe and enjoyable as possible”.

Earlier on Monday, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children helped out at a Scout Hut in Slough, Berkshire, as part of the national volunteering drive to mark the coronation.

While the King and Queen had a quiet day away from the public eye after Sunday evening’s Coronation Concert, other royals joined in the Big Help Out.

Edward and Sophie helped at a puppy class for trainee Guide Dogs in Reading, while the Princess Royal attended a County Civic Service recognising local volunteers in Gloucester Cathedral.