Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte meet ground staff day fourteen of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships in London, on July 14. Catherine announced that she had completed her course of chemotherapy following a cancer diagnosis earlier this year.Aaron Chown/Reuters
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has completed her chemotherapy and plans to return to some public engagements in November.
“The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,” the Princess said in a video released by Kensington Palace on Monday.
“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”
Catherine, 42, revealed last March that she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and that the abdominal surgery she’d had in January was to remove what doctors believed was a non-cancerous condition.
Her treatment was disclosed only a couple of months after King Charles said he had begun treatment for cancer. Royal officials have not said what type of cancer Catherine or the King are being treated for.
A timeline of Princess Catherine’s abdominal surgery and cancer treatment
Catherine has been largely out of public view ever since, and it’s not clear how active she will be in the coming months. Her first public engagement is expected to be in November, when she plans to join the Prince of Wales and other Royal Family members for Remembrance Day events. She is also expected to attend her annual Christmas carol concert in December.
On Monday, she said she was “looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.”
“Despite all that has gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life,” she added.
“The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything,” she said.
It’s not clear when her treatment ended. The video was filmed last month near the family’s vacation home in Norfolk.
Palace officials said the Princess has started to work from home on some projects, including her work on early childhood. They added that Catherine will undertake a light workload between now and the end of the year that will include a handful of public engagements.
Decisions about 2025 will be taken in line with medical advice, officials added.