Kate Middleton Speaks Out on Phase After Cancer Treatment After Missing Royal Ascot: It’s ‘Really, Really Difficult’

Kate Middleton returned to public duties with a meaningful visit to a hospital garden, where she spoke candidly about the challenges of her cancer journey, even after treatment ended.  The Princess of Wales, 43, traveled to Colchester Hospital in Essex on July 2 to spend time in a specially designed well-being garden that offers a restorative space for patients, NHS staff and visitors.

Speaking candidly about her own cancer journey, Kate said, “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually, the phase afterwards is really, really difficult.”  “You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to,” the Princess of Wales continued. “And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable.”

Princess Kate called it “life-changing” for both the patient and their families.  “You have to find your new normal and that takes time…and it’s a roller coaster, it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be,” she said. “But the reality is you go through hard times.”  The Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment in March 2024, going on to spend most of the year out of the public eye. She announced in September 2024 that she had completed chemotherapy, adding a few months later in January that she was in remission.

Kate returned to royal duties in 2025, but she did not attend an expected return to Royal Ascot on June 18. She was said to be disappointed not to join Prince William at the horse racing event, but those close to her emphasized that she is still working to find the right balance while easing back into official duties following cancer treatment.  While she hadn’t made a public appearance since, Kate and William quietly hosted a private meeting with Melinda French Gates at Windsor Castle on June 25 — not far from their home at Adelaide Cottage, where they live with their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7.

“She’s being sensible, listening to what her body is telling her and easing back into public life,” Queen Elizabeth’s former spokeswoman Ailsa Anderson told PEOPLE in a recent cover story.  During her hospital visit on Tuesday, Princess Kate helped plant several “Catherine’s Rose” plants, a newly launched bloom named in her honor by the Royal Horticultural Society, alongside staff who volunteer in the garden.

The pink roses, with proceeds benefiting the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, where Kate received care during her cancer treatment, were donated as part of a wider effort to bring healing green spaces to those in need. Fifty of the plants were delivered to Colchester Hospital this week, and 500 will be distributed to well-being and community gardens across the U.K. this summer — including Maggie’s centers for cancer patients, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (a longtime cause of Kate’s) and Horatio’s Gardens, which support people living with spinal injuries.

At Colchester Hospital, Kate spent time with award-winning garden designer Adam Frost, who worked with NHS staff to shape the space to meet the needs of the hospital community. The hospital’s well-being garden, which opened in July 2024, was created in partnership with the RHS, Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity and NHS Charities Together — the latter of which is a joint patronage of Kate and Prince William.  Kate has long championed the power of nature to support emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. And those close to her say that spending time outdoors was a vital part of her own healing journey.

Dwayne Fields, a chief scout who joined Kate on a recent outing in the Lake District, said: “She would say, ‘During my recovery, I spent a lot of time in the outdoors because that’s where I felt at peace.’ When people speak about themselves, it feels like they are giving you something … That’s her superpower. She’s a wonderfully warm person and invites you into a conversation.”  The princess, who has supported nature-forward initiatives from forest schools to therapeutic gardens, once described nature as “hugely beneficial to our physical and mental well-being.” In 2019, she shared her enthusiasm for “forest bathing,” a Japanese practice that promotes mindfulness through immersion in the natural world.

Reflecting on the poignant image of Kate photographed beneath a tree in Windsor in the summer of 2024, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told PEOPLE, “There she is in nature, which has fortified her, and looking upward in a sign of real hope and encouragement for everybody.”  Next week, Kate is expected to be among members of the royal family helping host French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron during their U.K. visit.