Prince William surprises fans with continuing 165-year-old royal tradition

It's officially garden party season - and Prince William and Kate Middleton kicked off the decades-old tradition over the weekend.

On Friday (8 May), the Prince and Princess of Wales hosted a lavish soiree at Buckingham Palace on behalf of King Charles III, which came just days after the first of the season, fronted by the monarch and Queen Camilla.

The royal couple co-hosted alongside William's cousin Zara Tindall, and his uncle and aunt, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Kate looked radiant in a cream and black Self-Portrait dress, featuring a tailored blazer-style top half and a polka-dot A-line skirt, and paired it with a wide-brimmed black and cream straw design hat.

While William dressed up in an equally formal classic suit, made up of a black tailcoat, gray waistcoat, rose-colored tie, and gray trousers, complete with a black top hat.

The official Royal Family's website describes garden parties as 'an important way to speak to a broad range of people from all walks of life, all of whom have made a positive impact in their community'.

The royal couple took on hosting duties over the weekend (WPA Pool/Getty Images)

It also outlines that, over the course of each year, over 30,000 guests are invited to spend a relaxed summer afternoon in the beautiful gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Historically, garden parties took the place of presentation parties attended by debutantes, and have since evolved into a way of recognising and rewarding public service.

As for who gets an invite, a long-established network of sponsors is used to select, who include ‘Lord-Lieutenants, Societies and Associations, Government Departments, Local Government, the Services, the Church and other Faiths’.

They nominate guests for invitation, and the royals hope in this way ‘to achieve a representative cross section of the community’.

Royal garden parties began all the way back in the 1860s, under the reign of Queen Victoria.

As per the Royal Collection Trust, the very first event took place on 22 June 1868, with Queen Victoria describing the event in her journal: "The afternoon splendid, & not too hot’…Quantities of people on the lawn whom I had to recognise as I went along…it was very puzzling and bewildering."

This marked the start of a 165-year-old tradition that's still honoured today, with gentlemen wearing morning dress or lounge suits, and women wearing equally fancy gowns, paired with hats or fascinators.

A whopping 27,000 cups of tea were thought to be brewed for the event (JONATHAN BRADY/Getty Images)

During this weekend's garden party, Kate and William met guests from a number of both their patronages, military affiliations, and passion projects, including Homewards and tenants across Duchy of Cornwall sites.

A typical summer gathering sees around 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches, and 20,000 slices of cake consumed by those invited.

Guests took photos of the royals, shook hands, chatted, and even posed for photos with them.

It marked the second time Kate and William have led the festivities at Buckingham Palace, with the last garden party they hosted taking place in 2025 - their first in nearly two years.

It came after Kate revealed she had completed chemotherapy in early 2025 following her cancer diagnosis the year before.