KATE'S Royal Comeback

HER return was nothing short of a triumph.

Two months ago, Princess Kate immaculately attired in a white Jenny Packham dress and a jaunty Philip Treacy hat-stepped onto the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour, the monarch's official birthday celebration, drawing roars from the crowd below. The June 15 event marked her first public appearance with the royal family since Christmas and her first since a March announcement revealing that she'd been diagnosed with an undisclosed cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. A month later, a radiant Kate ventured out again, this time in a bold purple Safiyaa look, eliciting wild cheers and a standing ovation as she arrived to watch the Wimbledon men's tennis final on July 14.

Now she's ready for something even bigger. After spending the summer continuing her treatment and recovery and enjoying time with her children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, during their school break at both their country estate, Anmer Hall in England's Norfolk region, as well as on King Charles III's bucolic Balmoral estate in Scotland, the Princess of Wales is coming to America. A source tells Star she's secretly planning to join husband Prince William in NYC on Sept. 24 for his beloved Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit. "Kate is very excited to be getting back in the swing of royal duties," says the source, explaining that supporting William, and inevitably bringing global attention to the environmental action event he's so passionate about, "means the world to her."

A ROYAL TREAT

But that's hardly the only draw. Amid this unexpectedly difficult yearCharles, 75, announced his own cancer diagnosis in February-Kate and William, both 42, have struggled to deal with not only what Kate's called the "huge shock" of her health crisis but juggling her medical needs with their royal and parenting duties.

A trip to Manhattan would in many ways be a much-needed distraction.