Kate Middleton is set to make an appearance at the annual Festival of Remembrance on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Princess of Wales, 42, will join her husband Prince William, also 42, and other royal family members for the event at Royal Albert Hall, per Buckingham Palace. The following day, Middleton will participate in the royals’ traditional appearance at The Cenotaph war memorial in London in honor of those who died in war and conflict on Remembrance Sunday.
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is observed on the second Sunday of every November. The royal family’s website calls The Cenotaph ceremony “the focal point of the nation’s homage.”
Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday that King Charles, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent will also be in attendance.
Queen Camilla’s participation, however, is up in the air for both events as she is on the mend from a chest infection.
This weekend marks the princess’s first appearance at a major ceremonial event since she revealed she completed chemotherapy in September.
Middleton has attended the National Service of Remembrance every year since tying the knot with Prince William in 2011. The mother-of-three even attended during her three pregnancies with, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. Middleton normally watches from the Foreign Office balcony.
On Thursday, Prince William got candid about the “brutal” 2024 he has endured, describing it as “the hardest year of my life” following both his wife and father King Charles’ respective cancer diagnosis.
Speaking to reporters on the final day of his visit to South Africa where he hosted his annual Earthshot Prize Ceremony, the Prince of Wales shared, “It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.”
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult,” he continued.
“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
Asked how Middleton is doing after completing her treatment, William said she’s “doing well,” per People.
When a reporter told him he looked relaxed, the prince was taken aback. “I couldn’t be less relaxed this year, so it’s very interesting you’re all seeing that,” he admitted.
“But it’s more a case of just crack on and you’ve got to keep going. I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family, too.”
In September, Middleton announced she’s now “cancer-free.”
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“I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” the Princess of Wales announced in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, at the time.
“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”
In March, the princess posted a video message announcing that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from [abdominal] surgery,” the princess shared in the clip. “It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family.”
