The Princess of Wales is a joint patron of The Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated for cancer last year, alongside Prince William.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-15-at-13.48.29.png” alt=”Kate Middleton” title_text=”Kate Middleton” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] On 14 January, the Princess of Wales visited the Royal Marsden Hospital. It was her first solo engagement in more than a year, and she took the opportunity to thank staff who looked after during her cancer treatment.<\/p>\n The Princess, who is now in remission, underwent preventative chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden last February after being diagnosed with cancer. She took the visit as an opportunity to connect with patients and reflect on the impact the illness has had on her life.<\/p>\n Catherine was seen consoling a mother as she cried telling her about her teenage daughter\u2019s treatment. She shared stories with fellow patients, recalling that she did not wear a cold cap during chemotherapy. And she offered her advice to stay warm, drink \u2018loads of water\u2019 and make sure you get \u2018loads of sunlight\u2019, jokingly comparing herself to a plant.<\/p>\n More importantly, though, the visit signalled to the world that she has changed. Not with a bold statement or one single action, but simply in her new approach to the role. While solo engagements are not uncommon for senior working members of the royal family, Catherine\u2019s visit came as a surprise and was certainly the most personal engagement she has ever done.<\/p>\n While the royal family are not necessarily renowned for their relatability, moving forward Catherine seems determined to change that. In doing so, we can expect to see a side of the her that we are not often shown \u2013 one that is perhaps more vulnerable. \u2018Understanding the diagnosis, it\u2019s a massive amount of information to take on as a patient,\u2019 she said in conversation with doctors, nurses and medical staff at the hospital. \u2018Sometimes from the outside we all think you\u2019ve finished treatment, and you go back to things, but it\u2019s hard to get back to normal.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] It’s a sentiment echoed in the video she shared on social media on 9 September to announce that she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. The intimate video saw Catherine walking wistfully through the woods with her children, lying arm in arm on a picnic blanket with Prince William and playing cards at home with her parents. \u2018Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,\u2019 she told us. \u2018I am looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.\u2019<\/p>\n The Princess concluded her statement by offering solidarity to other cancer patients. \u2018I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light so let that light shine bright.\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s certainly clear, now, that this video marked a shift in gear for the Princess and indeed the future of the royal family. While she has undertaken several engagements since then, including her annual Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey in December, Catherine is choosing to prioritise her health and her family. As she said herself during her visit to the Royal Marsden, last year\u2019s health scare made her \u2018appreciate all the small things in life that you take for granted\u2019.<\/p>\n While that includes spending more time with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, it also means choosing projects close to her heart. As such, during Catherine\u2019s recent return to the hospital she was treated in, she was announced as the new joint patron alongside Prince William.<\/p>\n We can expect to see both William and Catherine back at the Royal Marsden again soon, as well as continuing to champion the life-saving treatment cancer wards offer their patients in hospitals around the UK.<\/p>\n This new pared back approach is one that the whole family appears to be on board with. In November, Prince William revealed that he wants to approach royal duties with a \u2018smaller r in the royal\u2019 and thinks the monarchy should evolve as it seeks to navigate its place in a more modern world. \u2018I can only describe what I\u2019m trying to do and that\u2019s trying to do it differently and I\u2019m trying to do it for my generation,\u2019 William told Sky News at the end of his tour in South Africa.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s more about impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people,\u2019 he elaborated. \u2018I\u2019m also going to throw empathy in there as well, because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people\u2019s lives. And I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world.\u2019<\/p>\n Catherine\u2019s visit to the very place she spent some of her most challenging moments is case in point. \u2018It is a relief to now be in remission,\u2019 she wrote in a social media message after her visit, \u2018and I remain focused on recovery.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018In my new role as Joint Patron of The Royal Marsden, my hope is that by supporting groundbreaking research and clinical excellence, as well as promoting patient and family wellbeing, we might save many more lives and transform the experience of all those impacted by cancer,\u2019 she added, signing off \u2018C\u2019.<\/p>\n This is certainly royal a couple with a new sense of perspective, a shared desire to modernise and a more thoughtful approach to their duties.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>IMAGO<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Princess of Wales is a new patron of The Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated for cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6076"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6097,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6076\/revisions\/6097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘We think you\u2019ve finished treatment and you go back to things, but it\u2019s hard to get back to normal’<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]