Prince William will officially return to royal duties this week for the first time since wife Princess Kate Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis and treatment earlier this year.
Kensington Palace revealed to NBC News that William, 41, plans to visit West London and Surrey on Thursday, April 18. The Prince of Wales will “highlight the work of community and environmental impact organizations in the area.”
William will first check in with Surplus to Supper, a food distribution charity organization in Sunbury-on-Thames, to take a look at the ins and outs of their delivery process. He’ll then visit a youth center in West London that helps distribute food to people in need. All of William’s stops are scheduled to occur just one day after his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, return to school for the spring term on Wednesday, April 17.
Both William and Kate, 42, have been largely absent from the public eye since December 2023 after they were spotted attending a Christmas service with their family. Palace officials announced that Kate underwent a planned abdominal surgery on January 17. However, when weeks went by with no sighting of the Princess of Wales, the public began to wonder about her whereabouts. Kate was seen driving in a car with her mother on March 5, but conspiracy theorists speculated that it wasn’t really the princess in the car.
On March 10, U.K.’s Mother’s Day, Kate and William’s social media accounts released a photo of Kate and the three children. Shortly after the photo began circulating, news outlets were given a “kill notice” regarding the photo and it was revealed that the image had been edited. On March 11, Kate released a statement saying she had played around with altering the image and apologized for the confusion it caused.
Rumors about the princess’ well being flooded social media regarding her absence, but it wasn’t until March 22 that Kate herself addressed the situation.
“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. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” Kate said in a video.
She 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. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK. As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.”
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
InTouch
