Kate and Sophie watch from sidelines as King leads Garter Day ceremony without Andrew

The King walked in blazing sunshine down Castle Hill in Windsor, his velvet robes and plumed hat marking the ancient Order of the Garter ceremony – watched by the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh, who dropped into curtsies as he passed. Charles smiled as he presided over the elaborate display of pomp and pageantry, with the Queen alongside him in full regalia, while the Prince of Wales chatted to his uncle, the Duke of Edinburgh, just behind the Princess Royal. Kate, wearing a pale yellow coat dress by Patrick McDowell – the fabric woven by Stephen Walters & Sons in Suffolk – and a wide-brimmed hat by Jane Taylor trimmed with the same fabric, waited at the Galilee Porch with Sophie, who wore a white dress with a pink and blue floral motif and a matching pink and nude hat. They exchanged nods and smiles with the Garter companions as the procession passed, then curtsied as the King and Queen came into view. Ahead of them walked the Military Knights of Windsor and the Heralds, followed by a detachment of the King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard. The service began with the installation of the new Garter knights, who took their places in their stalls before the King, and the congregation joined in the Lord's Prayer. The Duke of Kent and Lady Mary Peters attended but did not take part in the procession. Missing from the ceremonial for the first time was the ex-prince Andrew, who was stripped of his Order of Merit when the King relieved him of all titles and honours last October. He spent the day at his new home on the King's Sandringham estate, after his eviction in February from his former 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge in Windsor. Following the service, the King and Queen and members of the Royal Family departed by carriages for the return journey to the castle. The ceremony heralds a busy period for the royals, with the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales expected at the Royal Ascot festival of racing in the coming days.