Kate’s difficult first year back at work after cancer,
When the Princess of Wales hosted a Buckingham Palace garden party in May last year, it was described as a ‘significant’ milestone on her road to recovery after cancer.
It was Kate’s first official public engagement after finishing treatment and since then every new portrait, handshake and royal engagement has been ‘another step’ on her road to recovery.
Exactly one year on, it’s sometimes easy to forget the trepidation her cancer diagnosis first sparked in 2024.
Kate, 44, radiated positivity and joy in a new family portrait as the future Queen let her hair down and enjoyed the sunshine with Prince William and her three children.
This week, she launched a ‘pivotal’ new stage of her early years campaign during a solo outing in London after Kensington Palace revealed Kate is ‘looking forward’ to her first official overseas trip in more than three years when she travels to Italy next week.
But fans should not misread this flurry of activity as a sign of normalcy, according to royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
‘The future will look very different,’ he told the Daily Mail, adding that Kate’s ‘life-changing’ cancer journey will see her priorities tilt in favour of family, while her engagements will be of a ‘less stressful’ nature.
When the Princess of Wales hosted her first Buckingham Palace garden party this time last year, it was described as a ‘significant’ milestone on her road to recovery after cancer
Kate launched a ‘pivotal’ new stage of her early years campaign during a solo outing at the University of East London this week
Typically stoic Prince William suggested he endured his own ‘annus horribilis’ in a rare moment of vulnerability after the Earthshot Prize in 2024.
At the end of his solo trip to Cape Town, William said it had been an especially ‘brutal’ year after Kate and his father, King Charles, were both diagnosed with cancer within a matter of weeks.
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When asked how the past year had been for him as a husband, father and son, the Prince of Wales lowered his head and said softly: ‘Honestly? It’s been dreadful.
‘It’s probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.’
Kate revealed she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer following planned abdominal surgery in an unprecedented video message on March 22.
Dressed in a simple striped jersey and jeans, sitting on a wooden bench and surrounded by daffodils, the princess calmly outlined the story of her ordeal.
She said: ‘It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family.
‘It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.’
From April onwards, Prince William put on a brave face as he returned to public work – often remarking that his wife is ‘doing well’ and ‘would love to be here’.
Six months later, Kate confirmed that she is in remission after a preventative course of chemotherapy and that, while she was ‘looking forward to being back at work’, her focus was on ‘doing what I can to stay cancer free’.
This signalled the beginning of her ‘measured’ return to public life, including a private meeting with late cancer patient Liz Hatton weeks before the talented photographer passed away.
‘Her life’s work is in early childhood, and she was working on this as soon as she was able,’ said Mr Fitzwilliams. ‘Yet after her devastating experience there has clearly been a fundamental change.’
He explained that while William and Kate have always prioritised their family and the needs of George, Charlotte and Louis, the princess’s health battle has heightened her sense of duty first and foremost to her children.
Over the last year, the Waleses vacated Adelaide Cottage and moved into the far more private Forest Lodge, a Georgian mansion located on the grounds of Windsor Great Park.
Kate holds hand with Princess Charlotte as she leaves the Royal Family’s Easter service with Prince William and their sons Prince George and Prince Louis, centre
The Princess of Wales radiated positivity and joy in a new family portrait as the future Queen let her hair down and enjoyed the sunshine with Prince William and her three children
Not only is the secluded Forest Lodge, complete with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, double the size of Adelaide Cottage, but it also gives the family room for a ‘fresh start’ after Kate’s illness.
Insiders told The Sun: ‘Moving gives them an opportunity for a fresh start and a new chapter; an opportunity to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind.’
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith added that Adelaide Cottage was a ‘place of pain, suffering, and sadness’ in an interview with People, adding: ‘After such rough times, it’s perfectly understandable they would want a new place.’
Mr Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that ‘William and Catherine prioritise the school run and they both also attend school activities with all their children’ while charting a ‘path back to normality’.
On the other hand, she skipped last year’s edition of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize in Rio de Janeiro, with royal expert Ingrid Seaward telling the Daily Express: ‘I think Kate has to wrap some semblance of normality around [George, Charlotte and Louis], because she knows what [royal life] can do.’
‘She’s seen it; she’s been around long enough…but they’re not normal children, and I think it’s extremely hard to keep their little feet on the ground.’
Kate also pulled out of Royal Ascot last year in a sign of her ‘continuing to prioritise her recovery’, according to Mr Fitzwilliams.
One year on from the Buckingham Palace garden party, Kate is expected to embark on her first official foreign visit for three and a half years next week as she travels to Italy as part of her work for young children.
Kate has not been abroad on official duties since she joined her husband, Prince William, in Boston for his Earthshot Prize Awards in December 2022.
Her last solo visit was to Denmark in February of that year.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said Kate was excited to get back to making visits abroad, adding: ‘The Princess is much looking forward to visiting Italy next week and seeking firsthand how the Reggio Emilia approach creates environments where nature and loving human relationships come together to support children’s development.’
Royal commentators have suggested the trip to Italy will mark a pivotal ‘new milestone’ for the princess’s work with the Centre, and signals new global ambitions for both Kate and her team.
But Mr Fitzwilliams added that it might also signal an ‘altered’ approach to the Princess’s engagements moving forward.
He said: ‘In time, there will be more engagements, but these may very well be in an altered and less stressful form.
‘Her solo two-day trip to Reggio Emilia in mid-May is linked to her work on early childhood, as the City has a distinctive approach to the early years.
‘This is an example of a sensitively structured trip, and this, her first official trip since she and William visited Boston in 2022, will be widely welcomed.’
However, she will undoubtedly put her health and family first as Mr Fitzwilliams added: ‘The future will be different as she appreciates the need for a new kind of balance after cancer.’
