Prince of Wales is leading his three children back to the ‘Big House’ at Sandringham on Christmas Day after church. He jokes that they need to move because ‘Mummy is yapping,’ while guiding Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Despite being loaded with flowers and gifts, the Princess of Wales continues to engage with well-wishers on the path. She humorously remarks that she might have lost her family amidst the interactions.
Ultimately, William has to intervene by using a mobile phone to contact a police protection officer to help him retrieve his wife, who is deeply engrossed in conversation with admirers.
After what one royal insider describes candidly as an ‘incredibly turbulent’ year, it was clear how much the crowds had genuinely missed Catherine and how ‘grateful’ – a word she used repeatedly during her festive walkabout – she is for their unwavering support.
Now, as she prepares to celebrate her 43rd birthday on Thursday – quietly with family and friends (her children start back at school the day before) – there will be much for the Princess to process, as well as to be thankful for.
She has, I am told, returned to doing the school drop-off, attending sports fixtures, taking the children to play dates and tennis lessons and even going back to the gym to build up her strength.
And it will no doubt be of comfort to know how universally popular she remains, despite her enforced absence from public life for much of last year.
However, her ordeal over the past 12 months has also inspired Catherine (and, of course, William) to steer a new course, I understand, in 2025 and beyond – one that puts greater emphasis on balancing the importance of their family with the family.
Kate’s ordeal over the past 12 months has inspired her to steer a new course – one that puts greater emphasis on balancing the importance of their family with the family
That’s not to suggest either are any less committed to their public duties, and the number of public engagements we see from here on will continue to slowly increase. It’s just that the Princess simply won’t be going back to work in the same way as before, insiders say.
To understand why events have prompted a subtle, but significant, adjustment in thinking, it is important to cast your mind back to this time last year.
Exactly a week after her birthday, Catherine was admitted, amid huge public shock, to hospital for what has only ever been officially described as ‘planned abdominal surgery’.
While it is true that her two-week hospital stay was not as a result of being rushed to the London Clinic as an emergency case, no one should underestimate the seriousness of her surgery, which would have required many months of recuperation, I am told.
Although she had been advised that her condition was non-cancerous, doctors, we now know, subsequently discovered that the disease had actually been present.
As a result, the Princess was advised to undertake a course of preventative chemotherapy, as soon as she was strong enough.
Catherine has been admirably open about the effect it has wrought on her, talking about the ‘complex, scary and unpredictable’ nature of her treatment and, above anything, her and William’s desperation to find a way to protect their children as much as possible.
‘It’s impossible to go through that kind of trauma and not to be changed as a person,’ friends agree.
And while the Princess may be in a significantly more privileged position than many cancer patients in terms of her care and financial security, a well-placed source stresses:
The Royal Family at Trooping The Colour last June. Kate is still expected to attend royal events such as this in 2025
The Princess of Wales has returned to doing the school drop-off, attending sports fixtures, taking the children to play dates and tennis lessons and even going back to the gym to build up her strength
‘There’s no hierarchy on the sheer terror of being told you have cancer, particularly when you have a young family you need to protect.’
That it came at a time when the King was undergoing his own cancer treatment made the situation all the more challenging for the couple.
Fortunately, the monarch’s condition was caught early and, while his treatment is still ongoing, doctors are incredibly pleased with his progress. But in those early, uncertain days, the Prince and Princess were also forced to consider the possibility of acceding to the throne far earlier than expected, which would have huge ramifications for them as a family.
All this is why, even though she is making great strides in her recovery, we shouldn’t expect to see the Princess returning to full-time royal duties any time soon, I have been told by multiple insiders.
A royal source confirms: ‘There is no huge reset button that’s going to be hit in January.
‘What we will actually see is a slow continuation of the Princess balancing her recovery and her public-facing duties, as she outlined back in September [when she warned her recovery was still ongoing despite having completed her chemotherapy].
‘Cancer impacts on your perspective, and what you have seen in the decisions they have made over the last year is that family and their children continue to be at the centre of their universe. Both Their Royal Highnesses have a strong commitment to duty, service and using their platform for good.
‘But what they are working on is ways they can balance themselves as parents with being the Prince and Princess of Wales.’
So how will this take shape?
In the Princess’s case, as well as a slow return to full-time public duties, there are no plans – yet – for any full-scale foreign royal tour – although it is not denied she may join her husband on one short trip, should she feel up to it.
For his part, William will undertake a ‘handful’ of solo foreign visits in the coming months, another sign of Catherine’s progress.
Notably, however, they are likely to be shorter two- or three-day visits (until his next big Earthshot event in South America in November), particularly in comparison with the long tours of yesteryear.
‘Everyone is adjusting the dial,’ explains a source, meaning the Waleses will strive to not be away from home extensively.
As for Catherine, her ‘early years’ work – her campaign to promote the importance of the first five years of a child’s development – is still her ‘number one’ priority and will continue to be a key theme of everything she does.
Prince William will undertake a ‘handful’ of solo foreign visits in the coming months, another sign of Kate’s progress
Although we may not see her in public as much as we did before for the foreseeable future, there is no doubt that she is still very much involved behind the scenes and working on long-term projects.
‘She continues to work closely with her team at Kensington Palace and the Centre for Early Childhood’, a source adds.
She is also expected to attend key royal events such as Trooping The Colour and The Cenotaph as she did last year, for example.
‘It’s about pace,’ a source adds. ‘I think she would also prefer to confirm only when she is certain she can attend events, rather than get anyone’s hopes up and then have to pull out.’
This approach is also in part due to the unedifying and, at times, downright cruel social media and public commentary around her illness in the first half of last year when, in the words of one insider, ‘the world just went mad’. It upset – and angered – the couple more than many realise.
And it has made them even more determined to continue to tell ‘their story on their own terms’.
As a result, they have massively beefed up their own media team, employing in-house videographers and photographers and working with freelance filmmakers such as Will Warr (who shot the much- talked-about family video released in September).
It has also hardened the Princess’s resolve not to allow her recovery to be blown off course by gossip and speculation. This is particularly with an eye on her much-talked-about Mother’s Day photograph of her with her three children, which triggered a slew of conspiracy theories after a number of photo agencies retracted it following concern over what were unwise but largely harmless edits to the image.
In a statement, Catherine later admitted to carrying these out: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.’
One who knows her well says: ‘She will do what is right for her, and particularly her family, every time, regardless of what anyone says. She is calmly determined.’
However, sources are at pains to make clear that her recovery is very much on an upwards trajectory and all are hoping for ‘much more normality’ in 2025.
‘I think anyone who saw her at the carol service last month, which was a lovely bookend to what has been a horribly difficult year, was so pleased to see her back and could see for themselves how much better she was,’ a source adds.
‘It was clear she was also happy to be back doing the things she loves. She is determined to make what she does count.’
Another positive sign is the release of their first royal warrants, I understand. Warrants are a mark of goods and services to a senior member of the Royal Family and are highly coveted as a stamp of excellence, providing a significant trading advantage on the UK and global stage.
Only senior royals are permitted to grant them, and there has been much debate as to whether the new Prince and Princess of Wales would follow suit, not least because any association with Catherine – who has proved herself to be one of the world’s most powerful influencers (albeit not one who ever personally profits from it) – would offer grantees unrivalled cachet.
I am now told that the Prince and Princess do hope to announce their first much-coveted awards of personal patronage, although no date for this has yet been set.
The message, then, it seems for the coming year, is ‘more but measured’ – and very much on Catherine’s terms.
‘When you think of where she was this time last year, she’s in a much, much better space,’ concludes one who knows her well.
‘As Catherine herself said, she’s looking forward to the future with hope and a new appreciation of life.
‘However, she has also had little choice but to take a step back and focus on herself, which inevitably has led her to reassess where their priorities lie.
‘I just think – and hope – as we saw at Christmas, that people are happy for her to continue her recovery at her own pace.
‘And we will all look forward to seeing her back properly, but only when the time is right.’
