Kate Middleton returned to public life with a poignant visit to a hospital garden, where she spoke openly about the difficulties of her cancer journey, even after treatment was over.
The Princess of Wales, 43, visited Colchester Hospital in Essex on July 2 to spend time in a specially created well-being garden, which provides a healing place for patients, NHS staff, and visitors.
Kate spoke honestly about her personal cancer struggle, saying, “You put on a sort of brave front, stoicism, during treatment. Following treatment, it’s like, ‘I can crack on, go back to normal,’ but the phase following that is really difficult.”
“You may no longer be under the care of the clinical team, but you might find it difficult to function normally at home as you used to,” said the Princess of Wales. “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.”
Princess Kate described it as “life-changing” for both the patients and their relatives.
“You have to find your new normal, and that takes time…and it’s a roller coaster; it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be,” she told me. “But the reality is you go through hard times.”
The Princess of Wales disclosed her cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment in March 2024, after which she spent the majority of the year away from the public eye. She declared in September 2024 that she had finished treatment, and just a few months later, in January, that she was in remission.
Kate returned to royal responsibilities in 2025, although she did not attend her scheduled comeback to Royal Ascot on June 18. She was claimed to be upset not to be able to accompany Prince William at the horse racing event, but people close to her highlighted that she is still trying to strike the proper balance while easing back into official responsibilities after cancer treatment.
While she hadn’t made a public appearance since, Kate and William held a private meeting with Melinda French Gates at Windsor Castle on June 25—not far from their home in Adelaide Cottage, where they live with their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7.
“She’s being sensible, listening to what her body is telling her, and easing back into public life,” said Queen Elizabeth’s former spokesperson, Ailsa Anderson, in a recent cover story for People.
During her hospital visit on Tuesday, Princess Kate helped plant six “Catherine’s Rose” plants, a newly introduced flower named in her honor by the Royal Horticultural Society, alongside garden volunteers.
The pink roses were donated as part of a larger initiative to provide therapeutic green spaces for people in need, with earnings going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, where Kate received care during her cancer treatment. Fifty plants were delivered to Colchester Hospital this week, and 500 will be distributed to well-being and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie’s Centres for cancer patients, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (a long-time Kate’s cause), and Horatio’s Gardens, which help people with spinal injuries.
While at Colchester Hospital, Kate spent time with Adam Frost, an award-winning landscape designer who worked alongside NHS personnel to develop the area to meet the needs of the hospital’s population. The hospital’s well-being garden, which will open in July 2024, was built in collaboration with the RHS, Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity, and NHS Charities Together, the latter of which is under the combined patronage of Kate and Prince William.
Kate has long championed nature’s ability to promote emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. And others close to her believe that spending time outside was an important part of her personal recovery process.
Dwayne Fields, a chief scout who accompanied Kate on a recent trip to the Lake District, said, “She would say, ‘During my recovery, I spent a lot of time in the outdoors because that’s where I felt at peace.'” Self-promotion might seem like a gift. That is her superpower. She’s a tremendously pleasant individual who urges you to engage in discussion.”
The princess, who has sponsored nature-forward programs like forest schools and therapeutic gardens, previously stated that nature is “hugely beneficial to our physical and mental well-being.” In 2019, she expressed her passion for “forest bathing,” a Japanese technique that fosters awareness via immersion in nature.
Reflecting on the emotional image of Kate shot beneath a tree at Windsor in the summer of 2024, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told PEOPLE, “There she is in nature, which has fortified her, and looking upward in a sign of real hope and encouragement for everybody.”
Kate is likely to join other members of the royal family in welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron to the United Kingdom next week.