Princess Kate has announced today that she will return to “light duties” following her emotional cancer announcement at the end of March.
The world began to worry in mid-January when the Princess of Wales was not seen since attending the royal family’s Christmas service at Sandringham with her children.
Kate was admitted to the London Clinic for planned abdominal surgery on January 16, although this news was not announced by Kensington Palace until the following day, with royal aides saying she was expected to remain in hospital for between ten and fourteen days before returning home to continue her recovery.
That same day, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles would be treated in hospital for an enlarged prostate and just days later Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, revealed that she had been diagnosed with skin cancer, six months after being treated for breast cancer.
On January 29, Princess Kate and King Charles are discharged from the London Clinic. The king was seen waving to well-wishers as he left with Camilla, but Kate was nowhere to be seen despite Kensington Palace saying she had returned home to Windsor.
Kate, Charlotte, George, William and Louis at the Sandringham Christmas Day service in 2023
March 10: Kensington Palace releases a photograph of Kate and her children to mark Mother’s Day, but irregularities are detected in the Mother’s Day photograph, leading the Princess to admit to having “edited” the image and apologise for any “confusion” caused.
March 11: Prince William and Kate are seen leaving Windsor together while travelling in a car.
A week later, Buckingham Palace announced to the world that King Charles had cancer, but there was still no sign of Kate and no further news.
Concerns about Kate were further heightened when Prince William pulled out of a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece in Windsor in late February due to a “personal matter.”
On March 4, Kate was photographed in Windsor in the passenger seat of a car wearing a pair of sunglasses while her mother, Carole Middleton, drove.
Six days later, Kensington Palace released a photograph of Kate and her children to mark Mother’s Day, but irregularities were detected in the Mother’s Day photograph, leading the Princess to admit to having “edited” the image and apologise for any “confusion” caused.
The next day she was photographed in a car leaving Windsor with William, but her face was turned away from the camera.
On March 18, TMZ and The Sun published a video of William and Kate leaving Windsor Farm Shop following a visit on March 16.
Kensington Palace announced today that the Princess of Wales has undergone abdominal surgery
The Princess of Wales leaves Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade in London
The Princess of Wales was greeted with a standing ovation when she made her way to the royal box at Wimbledon in July.
The Princess of Wales made her first appearance at Crathie Kirk since revealing her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
It was not until March 22 that the Princess revealed her cancer diagnosis in a video message that swept news channels around the world.
Kensington Palace said Kate had begun a course of “preventative chemotherapy” in “late February” but did not confirm the exact date. It is also known that post-operative tests detected the presence of cancer, although again there is no exact date for this.
The Princess’s first public appearance following the announcement of her cancer did not come until 15 June, when she joined the Royal Family to celebrate the King’s official birthday at Trooping the Colour.
Kate smiled and waved as she and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, were cheered by the crowd on The Mall after leaving Buckingham Palace in a carriage procession for the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
A month later, she made another appearance at Wimbledon in the royal box to the delight of fans. Accompanied by her nine-year-old daughter Princess Charlotte and her sister Pippa Middleton, the future queen was greeted with applause on her second public appearance of the year.
The Princess of Wales was most recently seen on August 25, when she attended Sunday service at Crathie Kirk with William, King Charles, Queen Camilla and other royals.
Today’s announcement says she will be returning to “light duties” after completing her chemotherapy treatment, so royal fans can expect to see a little more of the Princess they’ve been worrying about since Christmas.
