“As anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” said the Princess of Wales’s personal message, on the eve of her first public appearance in six months at Trooping the Colour in June.
Since then, Kate, 42, has made one public appearance — at the Wimbledon men’s final in July — and seemed visibly moved as Centre Court rose to its feet when she arrived with her daughter, Princess Charlotte, and her younger sister, Pippa Matthews.
Friends say the uncertainty of her good days and bad days “still rings true”.
However, after a restful summer spent with the Prince of Wales and their three children at Anmer Hall, their home in Norfolk, the princess is beginning to think about the months ahead.
There is no set date for her return to public life, nor any engagements inked into her diary, and Kate will not accompany William to Cape Town in early November for this year’s Earthshot Prize awards.
• Princess of Wales announces end of chemotherapy in intimate video
But if she continues to have more “good days”, it is understood she has set her sights on “potentially” joining the King and the royal family at the Cenotaph for the National Service of Remembrance on November 10.
Royal aides are also understood to have started planning for the princess’s annual televised “Together at Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey in December. Continuing with some work from home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, Kate has been holding more regular meetings with her private secretary, Tom White, her assistant private secretary, Natalie Burrows, and the Waleses’ communications secretary, Lee Thompson, to plan for the future.
She has been underdoing chemotherapy and spent the summer resting with her family
JAVIER GARCIA/REX
When Kate delivered an emotional video message in March announcing her diagnosis after undergoing major abdominal surgery in January and beginning chemotherapy in late February, she said: “My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able.”
A return to work in some capacity is evidently now on her mind. On Friday Kensington Palace released a written message from the princess on its social media platforms, welcoming the explorer and broadcaster Dwayne Fields as the new chief scout, replacing Bear Grylls. In her message, Kate, who is joint president of the Scouts with the Duke of Kent, said: “Looking forward to working with you! C” [for Catherine].
While future plans are under consideration, those close to the princess continue to echo the Kensington Palace mood music that there is “no expectation for her to rush back” to public life. “People know and understand it is a long journey to recovery,” said a friend last week.
In her own cautiously optimistic words in June, when Kate spoke of “making good progress,” she also said: “I am not out of the woods yet.”
The King and Queen arrive at Crathie Kirk to attend the Sunday morning service
JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Any return to official duties for the princess will be “gradual” and will not replicate the King’s busy schedule since he resumed public engagements in April after revealing his cancer diagnosis in February. The King, who is still undergoing treatment and whose health is said to be “heading in a very positive trajectory” according to royal sources, is understood to be completely supportive of Kate’s approach. The already close bond between Charles and his daughter-in-law, on whom he dotes, has only strengthened since both received shock cancer diagnoses within weeks of each other at the start of the year.
Those close to the Waleses point to another hopeful sign of Kate’s progress: William, 42, is noticeably more relaxed of late and has decided to resume a fuller diary of engagements after their summer break.
In early March, at the height of frenzied speculation around the princess’s health, a friend spoke of the pressure William felt as he reduced his public duties to support his wife and family. “Privately, he’s dealing with more than he has for a long time in his life and it’s tough to see. He is OK, but it is hard.”
Charles at The Braemar Gathering, the most famous of the Highland Games, held on the first Saturday in September
SAMIR HUSSEIN/WIREIMAGE
Close friends say his mood has now lifted. While tensions with Prince Harry remained at the memorial service for their uncle, Lord Fellowes, in Norfolk last month — where the brothers did not exchange a word — William was all smiles among his allies at the service. “He was in very good form,” said a friend.
After being photographed clean-shaven while driving to church with Kate last month during their stay at Balmoral, some royal watchers have even pointed to the reappearance of William’s facial hair last week, seen during an engagement at the Saatchi Gallery in London, as another sign of his more relaxed demeanour.
Since Kate’s diagnosis, the Waleses’ priority has been to protect their children and maintain as normal a home and school life as possible for Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, with the help of their long-standing Norland nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
William and Kate’s young family has been of the highest priority during her treatment and time away from duties
ZAK HUSSEIN/SPLASH
Throughout her treatment, Kate has continued to share the school run to Lambrook School in Bracknell with William, and the couple have made a point of being present for school plays and sports matches, sometimes attending with Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who live in Berkshire. “On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life,” the princess said in June.
In March, when the princess stunned the world with news of her cancer diagnosis, she asked the public to give her family “time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment”. Those close to the Waleses say that most of the public’s subsequent respect for that request has been a source of huge comfort and relief to them.
In June, before taking her place alongside the King on the Buckingham Palace balcony, she thanked the public for the “continued understanding” that has enabled her to “take this much-needed time to heal”. Conscious that her gradual return to public life will be scrutinised, analysed and eagerly anticipated by much of the public and the media, the princess will hope that understanding can continue as she finds her feet again with more of the “good days”.
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