LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Kate, Princess of Wales, announced Monday that she has completed chemotherapy treatment for cancer and plans to return to some public duties.
It comes after a difficult few months for the royal family in which both 42-year-old Kate and King Charles III were treated for cancer. Charles, 75, has scaled back his public engagements since April after a three-month hiatus to focus on his treatment and recovery after he was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.
Kate has made just two public appearances since announcing her own diagnosis in March. She said that “the past nine months have been incredibly hard on us as a family,” but that she had “a renewed sense of hope and appreciation for life.”
Here’s a timeline of recent events in the royal family:
– September 8, 2022: Charles becomes king after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
– March 29, 2023: Charles makes his first foreign visit as monarch to Germany.
– May 6, 2023: The new monarch is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
– September 20, 2023: Charles makes a state visit to France and stops at the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral.
– October 31, 2023: Charles makes a state visit to Kenya; expresses its sadness and regret over the violence committed against Kenyans in the past as they sought independence.
– December 25, 2023: Charles attends a Christmas service at Sandringham, the royal estate in the east of England, along with Prince William, Kate, their children and other members of the royal family. It will be Kate’s last public appearance for six months.
– January 16, 2024: Kate, 42, is admitted to the London Clinic and undergoes abdominal surgery. The news is not announced until the next day.
– January 17: Kensington Palace reveals Kate is recovering from planned surgery. Officials say her condition is not cancer-related, but did not specify which surgery was involved, saying only that it was successful. They say she will remain in the private hospital for 10 to 14 days and will remain out of public view until after Easter. Buckingham Palace announced on the same day that King Charles will be treated for a benign enlarged prostate.
– January 21: Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, says she has malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
– January 26: Charles is admitted to a London hospital for a three-day stay for his prostate treatment.
– January 29: Kate and Charles are both discharged from the London Clinic. Charles is photographed leaving the hospital with Camilla and waving to well-wishers. The photo does not show Kate leaving the hospital.
– February 5: Buckingham Palace announces that Charles has cancer and will receive treatment. Officials are not saying which form of cancer the king has.
– February 7: Prince Harry arrives in Britain from California to visit his father. He leaves the next day.
– February 11: Charles waves cheerfully to well-wishers after leaving church services near Sandringham, his first public outing since his cancer diagnosis.
– February 27: William withdraws from a memorial service for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, due to a “personal matter.” His office would not comment further, but said Kate is still doing well. Later that same day, Buckingham Palace announced that Thomas Kingston, the son-in-law of Prince Michael of Kent, had died at the age of 45.
– March 1: An inquest finds that Thomas Kingston died on February 25 from a “traumatic head wound”. A gun was found next to his body in his parents’ home.
– March 10: Kensington Palace releases a photo of Kate surrounded by her children to mark Mother’s Day in Britain. The photo, the first official photo since she underwent surgery, was withdrawn hours later by The Associated Press and other news agencies over concerns that it had been digitally manipulated.
– March 11: Amid speculation about her health sparked by the doctored family photo, Kate apologizes on social media for the “confusion” caused. She says she “occasionally experiments with editing,” like many amateur photographers.
– March 16: The Sun newspaper publishes a video reportedly showing a smiling and relaxed Kate shopping with William in a farm shop near their home in Windsor.
– March 20: The Information Commissioner’s Office says it is investigating a report that at least one staff member at the London Clinic tried to snoop into Kate’s medical records while she was a patient at the hospital.
– March 22: Kate announces in a video speech that she is undergoing treatment for cancer, including chemotherapy. She says she is getting stronger every day, but needs to focus on her recovery.
– March 31: Charles attends Easter service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, shaking hands and greeting people who waited outside the service in the cold.
– April 26: Buckingham Palace announces Charles will return to public duties.
– June 6: Charles attends commemorations in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France during World War II.
– June 14: Kate gives an update on her health, saying she has “good days and bad days” and is “overwhelmed” by the public’s support. She says she will attend ceremonies the following day to mark the monarch’s official birthday.
– June 15: Kate attends the birthday ceremony, also known as Trooping the Colour, along with William, their three children and other members of the royal family. The crowd cheers as the royals step onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a military flypast at the end of the event.
– July 14: Kate presents men’s winner Carlos Alcaraz with his trophy at the Wimbledon tennis championships in her second public appearance since announcing her diagnosis.
– July 14: Buckingham Palace announces that Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Australia and Samoa in the autumn.
– September 9: Kate releases a video message saying she has finished chemotherapy and reflects on her “complex, terrifying and unpredictable” cancer journey. She says she will be making “a few more public engagements” in the coming months as she recovers.
