Kate Middletonwill attend a key event on the royal family’s annual calendar after missing it last year.
On March 5, Buckingham Palace announced that the Princess of Wales will attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbey in London next week on Monday, March 10. Princess Kate, 43, missed the event last year while recovering fromabdominal surgerybefore announcing that she wasundergoing treatment for cancer.
She will joinPrince William,King Charles,Queen Camilla,Princess Anne,Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester andBirgitte, the Duchess of Gloucesterat the service celebrating the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 nations, most formerly under British rule, and King Charles is the ceremonial head of the network which exists to enrich the lives of its citizens.
The theme of Commonwealth Day this year is “Together We Thrive” and 2,000 guests will come together to commemorate “the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth family,” a statement said. While working members of the royal family typically step out in full force for the Commonwealth observance at Westminster Abbey, last year was different because both Princes Kate and the King, 76, did not attend for health-related reasons.
Princess Anne, Queen Camilla, Prince William and more royals at the 2024 Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 11, 2024.Henry Nicholls - WPA Pool/Getty
Henry Nicholls - WPA Pool/Getty
The Princess of Wales was not expected to appear at the Commonwealth Day service on March 11, 2024, as she recuperated from a “planned abdominal surgery” that January. Kensington Palace announced on Jan. 17, 2024 that the princess' procedure the day before had been a success, but that she was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter,” which fell last year on March 31.
That March 22, the Princess of Wales shared she was undergoing chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer following post-operative testing after the procedure. Princess Kate then stepped out of the limelight to focus on her health, sharing in September that shecompleted chemotherapyand relayed with “relief” on Jan. 14 that she is “in “remission.”
The royal made that revelation after asurprise stopat The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, which came with the confirmation that she had had treatment there. The Princess of Wales has increasingly filled her public schedule ever since, and most recently traveled to south Wales with Prince William last week on Feb. 26 to visit a community recovering after flooding.
Kate Middleton and Prince William in Pontypridd, Wales on Feb. 26, 2025.Jaimi Joy - WPA Pool/Getty
Jaimi Joy - WPA Pool/Getty
King Charles also did not attend the Commonwealth Service in person in March 2024 as the commemoration fell a few weeks after Buckingham Palace announced that he wasdiagnosed with cancerand began treatment.
King Charles resumed forward-facing engagements in late April and has been busy ever since. Shortly before Christmas, palace sources said his treatment for cancer wouldcontinue into the new year.
Queen Camilla and King Charles on Christmas at Sandringham, Dec. 25, 2024.Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty
Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty
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Princess Kate last attended the Commonwealth Day Service in 2023, when she and Queen Camilla, 77, had tohang on to their hatsin the blustery March weather.
source: people.com
