Inside The Private Life Of The Future Queen: Catherine, Princess Of Wales

It's emotional, it's such a special time. I think any parent, I think, will probably know what this feeling feels like. It's very special. They are both very committed to the monarchy and making kind of a united front, whatever personal problems they might have. I think she's wanting to establish a unique identity for herself in the British royal family. She's the future queen and she's going to be her own type of future queen. It'll be a whole different narrative with Kate, I think. Talking can help heal hidden challenges that we can't deal with alone. I take this opportunity to say thank you also for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all. I actually went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you. Obviously we have been going out a long time and it just seemed a natural start for both of us. Born the eldest sibling of three, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born in Berkshire, England, raised by their mother and father Michael and Carol Middleton. She is probably a good example of one of the best things that the royal family has done for years. Both of her parents are from highly different backgrounds. They found love was in the air as they met at Carol's occupation as an air hostess and Michael's job as an international dispatcher. It was on Michael's side that a glimpse into British aristocracy was already prevalent, born into a wealthy family from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and Carol's side, a decidedly working class group of coal miners and builders. I think the ways the Middletons have been integrated into royal life, so to speak, has been quite seminal and unprecedented. Often girls who have married into the royal family and their in-laws have sort of been ignored or shoved away. Actually, the Queen has actively embraced the Middletons, inviting them to things like royal ascot. Well, the Middletons are hugely interesting because they've been more instrumental and influential than any other family that's married into the House of Windsor. And what they did is what good parents have always done. They've invested in education. It costs them a lot of money. They sent all of their three children to good schools, in the case of Kate, to Marlborough School, which is one of the top public schools, which means private in British terms, schools, where she did quite well. She first became aware of Prince William of Wales while studying at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The pair shared several classes during their studies and soon became friends. At the university, they shared rooms to start with and then shared a cottage with some friends. And as they said, you know, by their own account, they said that they were friends first and then the romance began. It wasn't until 2002, after Kate's appearance in an exclusive fashion show fundraiser, that William became more and more intrigued by Miss Middleton, especially the dress she was wearing that evening. It seems that the royal family were protecting William. It's about William to start with, but then William and Kate when the relationship began, because they did a lot of their early courting in St Andrews at the Queen's Estate in Balmoral. Away from prying eyes, lots of privacy, lots of time to develop the relationship. She's quite reserved, but you know, this is the same girl that when she was trying to pull Prince William, she, you know, she was wearing a see-through out dress and sashayed down a catwalk. So, and she is quite, you know, that's quite a bold thing to do. So she can't have been too shy or backward at coming forward in that respect. I think when it comes to William and Kate's relationship, what's great about it is it's based on friendship first. They were friends at St Andrews University before they went on to start going out with each other. Kate at the time counseled William in changing his course. He didn't like what he was studying and she encouraged him not to leave and go back down to London, but to stick with it and do something a little bit different. She is a very beautiful young woman who's very intelligent and rather polished. The romance was in bloom. A relationship which was held closely undercover, mostly due to the Prince's extreme distrust of the press. However, a slip in their cautious approach led to Kate being caught by paparazzi while on a royal family ski trip, leading to an immediate response. Similar to the reveal of Princess Diana and King Charles' relationship, the relationship of Catherine Middleton became the subject of intense scrutiny, prejudice and tabloid attention. Over time, media has become an increasingly difficult burden for the royals. Some tabloids led with headlines suggesting she was being groomed for a potential position of royalty. What you have with William is a guy who has learnt lessons, and there's really nothing any of those grey-suited men from Clarence House could genuinely tell William that he doesn't already know about the press. He understands the media, he understands that as a royal you're never going to be elected, but that doesn't mean that public opinion isn't incredibly important. At all times, they were highly discreet. They were almost never seen together. They were, even with their friends, they didn't allow any gossip to start. People speculated, but there was nothing definite which proved that they were an item. And I think the fact that she was discreet and that she wasn't blabbering on about her love or her regard for Prince William, I think that stood her in good stead. They both just seemed so well-matched. You could see it in their body chemistry, even at that stage. And on in a moment, you know, fraught with nerve, they were about to meet the world's press. All the paparazzi and the photographers, rather, were waiting next door to take their pictures. But even under that sort of pressure, they gravitated towards each other. I remember William having his hand in the small of Kate's back, you know, guiding her, making sure she was alright. And I think that's what you've seen over the years. You know, he has wanted to just make sure that she is comfortable, that she feels confident and happy in what she's doing. And as he said in that engagement interview, and I think it was such a poignant and important thing that he said, that he waited so long to propose, not because he wasn't sure, I think he probably had been sure for a long time, but it was so that he could give Kate the opportunity to see exactly what married life would be like and get out if it wasn't what she wanted. You're obviously going to enter this family. William's mother was this massive, iconic figure, the most famous figure of our age. Is that worrying? Is that intimidating? Well, obviously, I would love to have met her. And she's obviously an inspirational woman to look up to. You know, it's a wonderful family. The members who I've met have achieved a lot. And, you know, very inspirational. So, yeah, I do. There's no pressure though, because like Kate said, it's about carving your own future. No one's going to try and, you know, no one's trying to fill my mother's shoes. And what she did is fantastic. It's about making your own future and your own destiny. And Kate will do a very good job of that. And then, of course, we saw her first speech as a Duchess. And, you know, what we saw there is a very beautiful young woman with notes in front of her who couldn't say more than four or five words without looking down again to figure out what she was going to say next. It was a very stilted performance, and she was widely criticized in the press. But again, you have to remember that this is a young woman who is not running for public office, and she wasn't even born into a royal family. She's coming in from the outside, and she's trying to make everybody happy, even though it's not necessarily her own natural gift to stand up in front of people. I would wager that that's probably the hardest, most challenging aspect of her role as William's wife, is the public speaking component. Today I have seen again that the Treehouse is all about family and Farnborough. For many, this is a home from home, a lifeline, enabling families to live as normally as possible during a very precious period of time. I mean, it's very difficult, I think, for anybody who's come from the outside of the royal family to a full-on public figure to be brilliant at public speaking straight away. I think that there's no doubt that Kate was very nervous when she started her role as Duchess and speaking publicly. In her role as the patron of the East Anglian Hospice, she had to make a public speech. I thought she did very well, but it was a little stilted, a little disjointed. I think she would probably admit that she was more than a little bit nervous when she had to make it. But in time, I think she's improved. She's undoubtedly had some help, I would think, from external advisers. I mean, Princess Diana herself used penicillin to help train her in public speaking. In fact, she used to have marbles put in her mouth to help her speak more clearly. I don't know if Kate's gone to that extreme, but she certainly has improved. She's certainly more confident. The couple's official engagement was announced in November 2010 during a vacation to Kenya, where William presented Kate with his mother's engagement ring. William's decision to give Kate his mother's engagement ring, for outside observers, we might look at that and say, that wasn't a great marriage, really, on the grand scheme of things. I think what it means for William is far more intimate, has a far more intimate meaning. And the ring gives us all permission to look again at this union, particularly because Charles and Diana's marriage went so bad and began, we now know, on such rocky foundations. It may be that we're imagining it, we're just hopeful and optimistic, but it looks like this one is different. It looks like this one is very much a personal choice of the two people involved, clear and simple. And I think people would have inevitably made those comparisons privately. I felt on the day when it was obvious that was the ring he'd given her, I felt that was his way of taking control of that narrative and taking control of that story. That's what I think it was. The couple then announced plans to live in North Wales, where Prince William was stationed with the Royal Air Force. After the official announcement of the pair's engagement, it was six months after on 29th April 2011 that the marriage was to commence. There is a sea-king helicopter flying overhead. A convertible Aston Martin emerging from the gates of Buckingham Palace. Catherine, the Princess of Wales, was very clear with what she wanted from the beginning. She established some fundamental life rules that she would stick to when she joined the firm. The ceremony, the wedding, just actually puts a seal on what everybody has been aware of for a long, long time. To my mind, I think the basis of the relationship is respect. She has never been a dog's body or a doormat. She's always fought her corner. Somebody said to her, aren't you very fortunate to be going out with Prince William? And she said, no, he's very lucky to be going out with me. Sir, may we just ask your reaction to the wedding, please, sir? Obviously, it's real. Thank you very much. I've been practising for long enough. I think people will recognise that this is a royal couple for the modern age. It's interesting that in planning their wedding, they have decided to do it their way. They haven't been completely tied up in royal red tape. They've insisted on having a degree of control over what is a state occasion, but is also a very private time for them. So, in very many key areas, I was pleased to see that Kate Middleton decided not to stay at Clarence House within a royal palace before her wedding. She decided that she would stay at a hotel with her parents, with her parents paying the bill for the hotel, for her leaving from the hotel from her parents or with her father in a car and going the mile to Westminster Abbey. She wanted to assert herself and she was saying, in effect, my family are very important in this too and I'm not going to have them forgotten. This is when the British come to their own. We have all the equipment, we have the household cavalry, we have the wonderful carriages, we have those ancient Rolls Royces and there's a great spirit here. A spirit I think you could say was evocative of 1981 and the wedding of Prince William's parents, Charles and Diana. There's a real enthusiasm for it. Royal weddings are immense occasions and there was a great deal of pressure on Catherine for many reasons. Bar the scale of the event and the overwhelming media coverage, the prior weddings of Princess Diana and Princess Margaret instigated a level of concern for Catherine's ability to remain happy under the spotlight. Given the history of previous royal marriages, the question was how sustainable the relationship between William and Kate was going to be. It was inevitable that when moving into royalty, Kate would have her fair share of comparisons to the late Princess Diana. Becoming Duchess of Cambridge left fans of the monarchy curious about how she would settle and show similarities to William's mother. To become a model princess was going to be a difficult process given the adoration of her predecessors. Each had their own unique personality and ways of dealing with the media onslaught. Would Kate crumble under the pressure or rise to the occasion as the new modern princess? It was clear that this was not your average pairing. Their romance and longevity as a husband and wife showed no signs of stopping. Royal sources tell me that the royals indicated very strongly to Kate that they would prefer her to wear her hair up for this very special occasion. However, Kate had her heart set on wearing her hair down with long flowing curls, which is her favorite way to wear it and actually William's favorite as well. They ended up compromising on her look. She had kind of a half up, half down. So from the front she had an updo, from the back she had the long flowing curls she wanted. Tying the knot at Westminster Abbey in London, all eyes were on the most important royal wedding since that of Charles and Diana. Kate was met by Queen Elizabeth shortly before the wedding, in which it was conferred that her royal title would be Catherine, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. Once you married into the royal family, you became a Windsor and that was that. Well, it was different when Kate and William got married and when William asked Kate to marry him, he made it very clear that she wouldn't have to leave her family behind her. Once she married into his family, he promised her that they'd always stay a part of the family and they have done, whether it's joining the Queen at Ascot or being on an important barge within the Queen's fleet at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Kate has proven herself to be a team player. She's proven herself to be discreet. She's also proven that she's willing to put her own interests behind the interests of her husband. Kate has a support system in William. She has a support system in her family, which Diana also didn't have. And she has a man she's known for eight years and she spent an awful lot of time getting to know. People are always asking me, well, how alike is Kate to Diana? And I always say that they're actually incredibly different women. They look very different. Diana was blonde, beautiful and leggy. Kate's beautiful and leggy. And Brunette, they look very different. They are very different people. And I think particularly in the early stages, there was a desire largely by the press to see how Kate would live up to Diana's image. And I remember William saying that there was no expectation that these were big footsteps and no one expected Kate to fill them. And I think what Kate's done, which is so commendable, and you really have to take your hat off to her, is she's forged her own identity within the royal family. She hasn't tried to emulate Diana. You know, she's a style icon, but I'd say she's quite a reluctant style icon. She's wanting to put her stamp in other areas. Her work with hospices, her work with mental health. It's quite interesting, actually, Kate's perception in the UK. She's not necessarily seen as an icon like Princess Diana was. And I think that's because Diana had frailties and faults as well. Kate hasn't really put those out there. She's almost too good to be true sometimes. And I think a lot of younger people find the overwhelming privilege that she has and the fact that she may be stuck around too long to marry Prince William as both seeing a little bit against her. Whereas around the world, where I do a lot of work in other countries, there's none of that attached to her, and they just like her for who she is or the perception of who she is. I think in the UK, when she was dubbed Weighty Katie, it didn't do her any good at all, and that was a little unfair because it's not her fault that her future husband took so long to pop the question. And I think were Diana here, I think she would approve of Kate Middleton. She might feel slightly like some mothers do. Oh, dear, I don't want to lose my son to any woman, you know. But I think she would approve. She would see in Kate Middleton some admirable qualities and she'd feel that her son would be safe with her. I'm sure of that. I think she would approve of it immensely. And I think it was very telling that he chose to give Kate Middleton his mother's engagement ring and he said, I want my mother to be part of this, to be present. She's a beautiful woman. She's developed a style that's very classic. It hasn't changed dramatically over the years, but it's just a classic, more groomed version of what she always was, it seems to me. Whereas Diana, she was that cultish teenager, wasn't she, who didn't have a sense of style, wore clothes that were 20 years too old for her to style. She really got it a few years down the line. One of her huge successes was fashion, but I think Kate Middleton's a different life story altogether and I think that will be the bedrock of how she copes with that comparison because there is no comparison to be drawn. I think that's the ultimate cushion on which she can fall when this kind of thing starts. There is no comparison because their backgrounds are entirely different, their psychological history is entirely different, their domestic history is entirely different. It'll be a whole different narrative with Kate, I think. Humanitarian work played an important part in Princess Diana's life, both at home and abroad. Her interests were reflected in the organisations of which she was a patron, or president. With her impact on such admirable work, it was seen fit that from Kate's turn from fiancé to duchess, she would also hold a pivotal role in similar contributions. The media would be keeping a very close eye on Catherine, even more so than the princesses of the past. Catherine's duties to the royal family skyrocketed, expectations were high and the world was watching. So Kate's set out her stall that she wants to support, in the first instance children, so she's supporting some hospice charities, each the East Anglia Children's Hospices. She's equally decided to be a volunteer scout, so supporting children out and about, enjoying country pursuits as she does. And actually she's been ahead of the curve on most of the choices that she's made. She's put children's hospices on the map and she's also done a huge amount of good for mental health. It's another cause that she's very much behind, so she will know how important she is as a patron to those charities to put them in that international spotlight and she won't want to spend too long away from them. Later on, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan worked together to bring about change under the umbrella of the Royal Foundation, working with charities, organisations and projects including Heads Together, the Invictus Games and United for Wildlife. However, Harry and Meghan soon separated themselves from the Foundation as well as the family. Rumours began swirling about a rift between the couples and William and Kate had to pick up more royal duties to bridge the gap left behind. Setting aside discussions about royal family friendships and charitable efforts, the nation was consumed with one burning question after the marriage of William and Kate. When would the world witness the arrival of a royal baby? For many, the wait was filled with anticipation until the Duchess's pregnancy was officially announced in December of 2012. Obviously there'd been an awful lot of anticipation as when Kate was going to announce that she was pregnant. In fact, I think the announcement was suggested for about six months beforehand. Everyone was writing in the papers that she was pregnant. The Palace had put out the official announcement as she was en route to the hospital because she'd had problems with the pregnancy and it was felt that William and Kate didn't want to even tell the Queen or Prince Charles that she was pregnant until they were absolutely certain everything was OK. So that's what happened. There was huge celebration over the birth of Prince George. I remember broadcasting for numerous international networks outside Buckingham Palace. Of course, it was the great Kate Wait. I mean, we didn't know when this little baby was coming along and when he did, it was a hugely important international news story. So when news broke of Kate actually having given birth, I think at 8.34 in the morning on that Saturday, the press obviously instantly started speculating, well, will she leave today? And thinking as a mother, I thought, yes, she definitely will because you don't necessarily want to hang around hospitals too long, even if they are the Lindo Wing and private and offering all frills. Equally, there's a sense, I think, if you have a second child, that you want to get back to your first. So people were sort of looking at their watches thinking, can she do this, can she have a baby by breakfast and be home at Kensington Palace for tea? And when we got wind of the fact that Kate's hairdresser had gone into the building, we knew, oh, hang on, you know, she's going to make an appearance. And in vintage Duchess of Cambridge style, she turns out in high heels and looking effortlessly elegant, even though she's given birth just hours earlier, which is a testament to her and how she's able to cope, not only, I think, in the limelight, but just in this, with this pressure of having to present herself in a certain light. And I think, you know, hats off to her. Whether you love or loathe monarchy, any mother out there will say that it was a pretty good effort to look so good within hours of having given birth to your second child, I think. Well, the birth of Prince George was really like a national celebration. It felt like a national holiday. There was excitement in the air all around the country. It very much reminded me of the feeling of the royal wedding day when William and Kate got married. Everyone was universally happy. Everyone was constantly checking the news feeds on their phone and on the television in order to see, waiting for William and Kate to come out from the hospital for the first time, holding the new baby Prince. I have several friends, actually, with news organizations who were standing outside the hospital that day, waiting hour after hour for William and Kate to come out. And actually, they came out quite a bit later than expected because typical William and Kate strategy fashion, they were greeting and thanking every single member of staff at the hospital personally for the very smooth birth. They wanted to make sure they thanked everyone from the cleaner to the midwife to the surgeon to say thank you very much. So they did actually take a long time to emerge. It was, and I remind him of his tardiness when he's a bit older because I know how long you've all been sat out here. So hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we can, you know, look after him. He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure. He's a big boy, he's quite heavy. But we're still working on a name, so we'll have that as soon as we can. But it's the first time we've seen him really, so having a proper chance to catch up with him. With the arrival of Prince George, the royal reaction was that of warmth and confidence in both William and Kate, unearthing a new chapter of their legacy. Shortly after the birth of the prince, it was surprisingly announced that another royal baby was on the way. Congratulations. How's Katzen feeling? She's feeling OK, thanks. It's been a tricky few days, week or so, but obviously we're immensely thrilled. It's great news, early days, but I'm hoping things settle down and she feels a bit better. In 2015, it became known that the Duchess was expecting her second child, and to the joy of both William and Kate, the pregnancy came with fewer complications than their first. They happily announced the impending arrival of Princess Charlotte, and once more, the world paused in excitement as the monarchy celebrated the prospect of a baby sister for their son. It was a great cause of national celebration, of course a little sister for Prince George, the daughter that Prince William had always wanted, the granddaughter that Charles had always wanted, but actually, historically, a really important little girl because she will hold her place in the lineage of succession, the antiquated male primogeniture laws were outcast just before Prince George's birth in case he had been a little girl. Now, had those laws not been changed, and had the couple, or are the couple, to go on and have another child that may be a boy, well, Charlotte would have lost her place in succession. With the laws being changed, she will hold on to that position, she is the fourth in line to the throne, and no little boy born hereafter will take that place away from her, so she is historically very, very important. Well, Charlotte's birth certainly does herald the dawn of a new era for girl power, in that we have a girl in a prominent position at the senior end of the royal family. Obviously, we've been used to the Queen, the ultimate exponent of girl power on the throne, but we face the prospect now of three kings in line, so we're not going to see another woman on the throne for many, many, many years, so how lovely to have Charlotte in this role, bringing up the rear. She's rather unkindly called the spare to the heir, as Prince Harry is, but, as he has proved himself, it's a role that you can make your own, and I'm sure all eyes will be on Charlotte, in fact, there'll probably be even more scrutiny on her because she's female, but, yeah, I mean, how great to have the pitter-patter of pink feet in the royal line of succession. They're very much hands-on parents, I mean, William made it very clear when George was born that he wanted to be a hands-on parent, he took time off to spend with George and Kate, they didn't have a nanny straight away, they were very anti-having an extended staff to look after their children, look after them, but I think as time has gone on, they've realised they do need that extra help, they can't just rely upon, say, Carol, Kate's mother, and other members of the family, they do need that because they're very much in the public eye, but William, in particular, wants to be a hands-on parent. Kate, too, doesn't really want to pass on the responsibility of motherhood either, but, you know, when you're in the royal family, when you're in the public eye, it's very, very difficult to do everything, and I think that even Kate and William have found that, and so they're now realising that it's important to have the extra help that they require. On 23rd April 2018, a little brother joined the royal fold. Prince Louis Arthur Charles became the third child of the couple and the fifth in line to the throne. The public was delighted to witness William and Kate's family expanding. In recent years, Kate has taken on more responsibilities as her children have begun to grow. Her efforts towards modern issues has marked her as a progressive and passionate princess. She has worked on bringing awareness to addiction, launching the Taking Action on Addiction campaign. Addiction is not a choice. No-one chooses to become an addict, but it can happen to any one of us. The Duchess also made huge movements in launching one of the largest early years research studies in the UK. From supporting William in the Earthshot Prize to wowing at the No Time to Die James Bond premiere, Kate has made a place for herself within the royal family, built on hard work and commitment. As William has said, we have heard time and time again in the course of our work how talking can help heal hidden challenges that we can't deal with alone. She has taken qualities from the past princesses and has transformed it into something new. It's clear Prince William found something special in Kate. Her considered approach to her work and her hands-on parenting style paints a picture of a new kind of royal. In her continued support of William, she has earned respect and admiration from both the public and the family. After some difficult years through the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Kate organised the Royal Carols called Together at Christmas in 2021, an event of hope and Christmas spirit. I think that Kate Middleton will be the people's princess, but I think there will be a lot of people who can identify with her and her background and where she's come from. And particularly as she succeeds in the job, I think they will warm to her. They will see that she hasn't gone out in order to get a prince. They'll see that it's been a mutually arrived at relationship. I think she's wanting to establish a unique identity for herself in the British royal family. She's the future queen and she's going to be her own type of future queen. Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch in British history. Her reign lasted for 70 years from post-war austerity and the end of empire through the expansion of the Commonwealth. She helped preserve the institution of the monarchy during times of massive social change. At her coronation, the queen repeated her pledge to serve her people and fulfilled it throughout her reign. It was the end of an era and a start of a new. After the passing of Elizabeth II, we witnessed the couple take to the streets. Both Kate and William stood as their own individual figureheads, greeting and conversing with the British people to celebrate her late majesty's legacy. The new King Charles III proudly announced in a televised speech that his son and daughter-in-law would now carry the titles of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales to Wysog Cymru, the country whose title I've been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given. A role which Kate has since turned into her own as she continues to devote her time to good causes. Charles will be the 40th monarch to be crowned at the Abbey, the latest in a lineage reaching back to 1066 but in a service with Charles' own contemporary twists. It will be a moment that confirms the King's contract with the people as he is called to serve them and in the religious part of the ceremony, to serve God. On 6th May 2023, British history witnessed a significant moment as Charles III, the longest-serving heir apparent, was formally crowned king. This coronation, symbolising a new era for the monarchy, held immense importance not only for the nation but also for Princess Catherine. Alongside her husband, Prince William, the heir to the throne, Catherine played a crucial role in the majestic procession. Adorned in royal robes and wearing pearl earrings once owned by Princess Diana, she radiated grace as she arrived at Westminster Abbey. Throughout the elaborate ceremony, Princess Catherine ensured that her three children remained composed, particularly her eldest, Prince George, who had the honour of serving as one of the King's pageboys. Following the service, the Wales family joyfully joined the carriage procession, waving proudly to the cheering crowds gathered to celebrate this historic occasion. The Princess of Wales has been a steadfast support for King Charles III throughout his reign so far. However, 2024 had proved massively challenging on a personal level for both Princess Catherine and her beloved father-in-law. In January, the Princess of Wales and the King were admitted to the London Clinic Hospital. Doctors treated Charles for an enlarged prostate, whilst Kate underwent major abdominal surgery. For the monarch, the procedure led to a shocking diagnosis. Although the type of cancer has not been revealed, the news sent shockwaves across the country and the world. Actually, my mum phoned me and says, why aren't you turning the news on? King Charles has cancer. And I went, Mum, what? And she said, yeah, and I just turned the telly on. I was just like, whoa! You know, it was just a big shock. The King took a break from royal duties for a few months while undergoing treatment, but he remained deeply touched by the public's reaction to his condition. As Charles battled with his own health issues, questions surrounding the whereabouts and well-being of Kate began to swirl across social media and the press. On 29 January, Kensington Palace shared an update stating that the princess had been discharged from hospital. A week later, William returned to his public duties for the first time since his wife's surgery, leading an investiture at Windsor Castle on behalf of his father and attending a fundraising gala for London's air ambulance charity in the evening. I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you also for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all. Prince William continued to attend engagements without Catherine, arriving solo at the BAFTA red carpet on 18 February. However, later in February, Prince William missed the service of thanksgiving for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, for a personal matter, which immediately sparked a press frenzy. Keen followers of the royal family took to social media to speculate about Catherine's whereabouts, having not seen the princess in public since Christmas Day. Post after post, article after article, presented new conspiracies and rumours on Catherine's disappearance from public life. Kensington Palace continued to shut down the growing chatter. On 10 March, Kate marked Mother's Day by sharing a photo on the platform X of herself, smiling with her three children. The image was the first official photo of the princess in months. They've misled the public by putting an image out there that was manipulated. It's going to fuel the whole load of speculation and conspiracy about Kate and her health. I mean, the Princess of Wales is an accomplished photographer. She said she edits photographs. She might have been editing family photographs, you know, all the time, for all we know. The rumours consequently spiralled out of control, and on 22 March, Princess Catherine was forced to address the growing concern. In a video statement to the public, the Princess of Wales appeared sat on a bench in the Windsor Grounds. Catherine revealed the devastating news that doctors had diagnosed her with cancer. The Princess went on to state, In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful, Kate said. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. Describing the impact on William and their three children, Princess George and Louis and Charlotte, Kate continued, This of course came as a huge shock and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. Messages of support from the public began pouring in and voices across social media and the press called for people to respect the family's privacy at such a difficult time. All day in Windsor, where on Wednesday the Princess of Wales recorded her personal and powerful video, there was sympathy and support from the public. I was just so shocked because there's been all that speculation about her and I felt really sorry for her because she must have been under pressure to perhaps come out and say something. It must be horrible. Her parents must be absolutely terrified. I've got a daughter so I know how I would feel if it was her. When the news broke yesterday, we broke as well and that's why we feel sympathy and just came here to see. It is just about four weeks since his wife made her cancer announcement and after an Easter break with Kate and their three children, Prince William was on public duty today. This charity diverts surplus food from landfill to those who actually need it. And one of their many volunteers reached under her workstation today and handed William two cards, one to give to his wife and the other for his father. Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said in a statement, ''We wish health and healing for Kate and the family ''and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.'' Both Prince William and Princess Catherine revealed that they were enormously touched by the well-wishes and warmth. Catherine will be very important in shaping the monarchy into an institution that's relevant to modern people and not just looking over its shoulder at past traditions. She has become known as a stylish, incredibly graceful and beautiful lady but she also possesses a steely core which enables her to say what she believes. She's not afraid of giving her input and she influences a lot of people that make the decisions. To be a 21st century princess means being in the spotlight of the world. Catherine Middleton handles her position with utmost grace and dutifulness. Catherine's commitment to defying the odds has granted her the respect of many, proving herself to the world as she nears ever closer to the position of consort, hand in hand with her beloved. Regardless of what lies ahead, Princess Catherine will undoubtedly continue to be a beacon of hope and joy for people everywhere, solidifying herself as the model 21st century princess.