This week continues the busy royal schedule of events that always take place in June—following her appearance at Trooping the Colour this past weekend, the Princess of Wales, as expected, was not at the Order of the Garter service yesterday, and she’ll likely skip Royal Ascot this week, too. It remains to be seen whether she’ll be at the Japanese state visit next week, or at Wimbledon, which has always been a favorite summer tradition she enjoys.
It’s a fool’s errand to speculate as to when Kate will return to work again—it’s best to just let Kate’s own honest and vulnerable words speak for themselves when it comes to guessing when we might be graced with her presence next. (Prior to Saturday, Kate hadn’t been seen publicly in nearly six months, since Christmas Day 2023.) Take it from her unprecedented statement last Friday—released alongside a stunning photo taken by longtime royal photographer Matt Porteous on the Windsor Estate last week—in which Kate announced she’d be at King Charles’ birthday parade the next day: “I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” she wrote. “On those bad days, you feel weak, tired, and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well.”
She added “My treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months,” and also mentioned that she is “starting to do a little work from home.” She continued that she hoped “to join a few public engagements over the summer,” but added, poignantly, that she’s “not out of the woods yet. I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
While Kate’s appearance Saturday should “give us all a great sense of optimism” about her progress, royal author Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight that, of Kate’s eventual return to work, “She was very honest in that message,” Nicholl said. “She said there were good days, and there were bad days when she was tired. I think we have to assume that Trooping was a good day, but she is still going through cancer treatment. She’s spoken about this need to be able to go through this period privately for her own recovery, but also for her and her family to have that much-needed privacy.”
Kate herself said that she hoped to attend a handful of engagements this summer, as long as her doctors greenlight the appearances and as long as she feels up to it. Wimbledon—which kicks off July 1 and runs through July 14—might be the answer, Nicholl said.
“I wonder if we might see her at Wimbledon,” she said. “She spoke in that very personal message about wanting to be able to do the things that bring her joy. I think that’s being in nature, that’s being with her children, that’s taking part in everyday school life—but tennis, don’t forget, is something that the princess absolutely loves.”
She continued of Kate that “She takes great pride in her position at the Lawn Tennis Association. Wimbledon is a firm fixture in her diary. Every year we’ve seen her attend with her family in the past. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see her pop up at Wimbledon, because I think that is something that will bring her joy, and a huge amount of her recovery depends on her being happy.”
Speaking of being happy, Kate certainly made so many who care about her just that by seeing her Saturday, looking healthy and well and radiant, just like she always has. Nicholl said that, following Trooping the Colour, as ever, “there’s a great sense of pride” in Kate: “I think she felt very much that she needed to be there,” Nicholl said. “The children looked so happy and relaxed having their mother there. It was important, I think, for the Princess of Wales to be there to support her father-in-law, to be there for her family, and to be there for the nation to send out a really important message that she’s doing okay.”
