Princess Kate was as regal as ever at the Commonwealth Day ceremony at Westminster Abbey on March 13, but then she unexpectedly missed the ceremony.

Footage of the event shared by royal reporter Rebecca English shows the King, Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Princess Royal arriving at the ceremony, but the princess was noticeably absent.

Earlier reports that Kate was on the list of attendees turned out to be incorrect. 'For what it's worth, I understand that it was incorrectly reported that the Princess of Wales was coming tonight,' English said. 'It appears she was not supposed to come. It may be childcare."

Nevertheless, it is unclear why Princess Kate was not scheduled to attend the event. Royal commentator Daniela Elser called the move "a bad impression" and wrote, "Certainly, Kate's desire to do the school run all the time is admirable, but it doesn't change the fact that her priorities are really quite off this time." (The Cambridge children, for example, may have had presentations or other commitments that Kate did not want to miss.)

For the same commentator, the fact that the Commonwealth is composed of more than 50% people of color, especially the Royal Family's recent (and frankly, its history especially in light of the various accusations of racism that the Royal Family has faced in recent years (and frankly throughout its history), means that the Princess's appearance would have felt like a sign of respectability.

During the ceremony, the Royal Family met with members of the Commonwealth community, including the Commonwealth Secretary General and the Maldivian Foreign Minister.