Kate Middleton has spoke of the “really, really difficult” period she has endured since being declared cancer-free earlier this year.
They were Kate’s first public comments since she dramatically pulled out of a scheduled appearance alongside the king at the Royal Ascot horse-racing festival at the last minute, triggering, as The Daily Beast reported at the time, “a real sense of panic” in the palace. Kate’s team said she pulled out of Ascot in the interests of “balance.”
Her visit to a hospital garden on Wednesday was therefore freighted with significance, and Kate took the opportunity to speak candidly about the ongoing challenges of her own cancer journey.
Kate didn’t directly mention her absence from Ascot, but did say: “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually, the phase afterwards is really, really difficult.
“You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to. And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable.”
She added, in remarks reported by People: “You have to find your new normal and that takes time... and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be. The reality is you go through hard times.”
Kate announced she had been diagnosed with cancer in March 2024. The disease was discovered after she underwent unspecified abdominal surgery.
She announced in September 2024 that she had finished chemotherapy and said in January 2025 that she was in remission.
Her father-in-law, King Charles, also announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer last year.
Kate has emphasized that being outdoors and in nature has played an important role in her recovery. Her office said she wanted to open the garden, where a new variety of rose named after her was planted, to “celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.”
It was reported last week that Kate’s health troubles have sent her “to hell and back” over the past 18 months, and that she is “fortunate to be even speaking of recovery.”
Kate is expected to appear at the Wimbledon tennis championships, as reported by The Daily Beast, either later this week or next week, despite a sweltering heatwave affecting the U.K.
One source last week told The Daily Beast: “Kate is recalibrating her entire life, her entire work-life balance. [Ascot] was a wakeup call, not a one-off. She has never found the public appearances, and the forensic attention and criticism that goes with them, at all easy to deal with, and it was just too much this week.
“The last few years have been horrific; the disgusting things that Harry said about her and William and her family, the relentless speculation about her and William, the queen’s death, the king’s diagnosis which had them both thinking they were going to have to take over and then her own cancer diagnosis and treatment. It’s all taken its toll, and if she needs more time to recover, William will fight tooth and nail to see she is given it.”
