Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the annual Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall in London on Saturday, marking two months to the day since she announced she was “cancer-free.”
The festival is the first of two events this weekend in the UK to honor those who died in war and conflict, and includes personal testimonies, storytelling and music performances presented before an audience of Armed Forces families.
Kate, 42, looked happy and healthy as she spoke with guests alongside her husband, Prince William, 42.
The mother-of-three wore a black dress which she teamed with pearl drop earrings and a quilted Chanel handbag.
King Charles, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, were also in attendance.
Queen Camilla, 77, was absent due to a chest infection.
The Princess of Wales’ attendance at the festival marked her first appearance at an official state ceremonial event since she announced on Sept. 9 that she completed chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
Beginning her gradual return to work, she undertook her first post-chemo public engagement last month, traveling with William to Southport, England, where they met the parents of the victims in a mass stabbing attack on Jul. 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The princess revealed she had cancer in a video statement released in March, following months of rampant speculation about her whereabouts. Conspiracy theories fomented online after Kate had not been seen since she underwent a planned “major abdominal surgery” in January, which led doctors to discover she had cancer.
Kate has not shared what type of cancer she was diagnosed with.
On Thursday, Prince William opened up about the “brutal” year he has had after both Kate and his father, King Charles, were diagnosed with cancer.
“It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life,” William told reporters in South Africa the day after his Earthshot Prize awards ceremony.
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.”
He added, “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.”
Following Saturday’s event at Royal Albert Hall, the princess is slated to join the King, William and other members of the royal family at a Remembrance Day service at The Cenotaph war memorial in London on Sunday.
Described by the royal family’s website as “the focal point of the nation’s homage” to the fallen, the ceremony at The Cenotaph brings the Windsors to Whitehall each year on the second Sunday in November to observe two minutes of silence in honor of the fallen. Similar memorials are held across the UK and around the world.
Kate has attended the ceremony every year since marrying Prince William in 2011.
