Palace aides also emphasized the appearance didn’t mean she was resuming royal duties. “She has been doing what’s right for her and recovering privately at home. She is dealing with it the best she can,” a source close to the royal household tells us exclusively in this week’s cover story. As she herself affirmed in a personal message sharing a health update on June 14, “I am learning to be patient.”

A friend of the family told of that period: things were normal at home and George was playing a rugby match against another school while his mother was hospitalized after a period of absence due to her ongoing cancer battle.

Princess Catherine made a graceful return to public life alongside the royal family in celebrating the King’s official birthday. Catherine dazzled in an elegant white ensemble, drawing admiration for her poise and charm. Despite the joy of seeing her, many observers and online commentators expressed concern, voicing similar worries about her health. What 2024 has witnessed is both the Princess and King Charles battling cancer, but some of these tough journeys will never be explained.

Now, Royal expert Katie Nicholl has done some stellar reporting and finally provided some crucial answers to us. Earlier this year, Prince William was seen leaving the London Clinic during the two weeks that his wife spent as a patient following Kensington Palace’s announcement for her planned abdominal surgery. Their three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, were not seen once. This was all done on purpose as the Princess did not want her children to see her in a gown and hooked up to monitors and tubes. Instead, she made do with video calls at home every day.

“Lessons were learned,” the insider revealed. William and Catherine were floored by the reaction after the meltdown of the Mother’s Day photo, even knowing what the Wales were having to process and deal with behind the scenes. This is still one of the most bizarre and clumsily handled periods in modern Royal history. What Nicholl’s new report underlines is that even a future king and queen, with a huge staff, money, resources, and aides, are liable to have cracks at something and to be wholly found wanting sometimes.

It can be easy to forget that the Princess is a living, breathing human and not some unerring exemplar of perfection. Catherine has been reprioritizing her life as she continues to undergo treatment for cancer. Palace aides also emphasized that her appearance didn’t mean she was resuming royal duties. “She’s been doing what’s right for her and recovering privately at home. She’s dealing with it the best she can,” a source close to the Royal household tells us exclusively in the week’s cover story.

As she herself affirmed in a personal message sharing a health update on June 14th, “I’m learning to be patient. The public will need to do the same until the Royal receives clearance from her doctors, but the hope is that her healing is well underway.” The monarchy is going through one of the most difficult sets of challenges, says Alysa Anderson, former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth. “But it just felt like a corner had been turned. Her appearance couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, as rumors about her wellbeing had begun to recirculate.”

Queen Elizabeth used to say, “I need to be seen to be believed.” Catherine was doing exactly the same in public as she’d been doing behind the scenes, focusing on her children. She’s always considered her role as a mother the most important thing in her life. Middleton knows the way she brings up her children will have a profound effect on the future of the royal family and the whole monarchy. Supporting her husband William and father-in-law Charles is also part of that key role.

The Princess said that days before the online conspiracy theories, she meant that in order to do the job of royalty, she needs to be seen, directly said King Charles biographer, Catherine Mayer. However difficult or otherwise this has been for Catherine, appearing was an act of service under the terms of the institution she’s part of. Despite the torrential English downpour, both the royal family and the public were touched to see the Princess standing strong before them. The family will take great comfort in that kind of support. That people did stick around to see them in such ghastly weather is a real testimony to them, says Anderson.