TWAS vintage Kate – elegant, smiling, engaging, compassionate. She charmed everyone, she got down to their level, she met their eyes, she listened intently.
It was her first public engagement of 2025 and her first major solo outing in more than a year so there was a lot of focus on this one.
But it was much more than another visit to another hospital for the Princess of Wales, far more than a matter of spending time with patients and bringing a little sunshine to their lives.
This was the Royal Marsden Hospital in southeast London where she’d spent months doing exactly what the people attached to drips and sitting in wheelchairs were doing – having treatment for cancer.
Kate, who announced shortly before the visit that her cancer was officially in remission, wanted to go to the hospital to do what she’s done several times since her diagnosis – spread a message of love and hope.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel,” she told a mother whose 19-year-old daughter was in intensive care. “She’s in the best possible hands.”
Kate also wanted to personally and publicly thank the staff for their “exceptional care, support and compassion” over the past year – and she’s showing her gratitude to the hospital she now knows so well in another way too.
It was recently announced the princess was becoming a patron of the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust, which raises funds for the hospital.
She joins husband William, who’s already a patron of the fund and follows in the footsteps of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, who lent her clout to the cause too.
All in all, this year is starting a lot better than 2024 did for Kate – but there’s no denying the struggle the princess has endured.
During her visit to the Royal Marsden she gave some real insight into the long, lonely road she’d walked last year, describing the battle in her own words.
This story is from the 30 January 2025 edition of YOU South Africa.
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This story is from the 30 January 2025 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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