Kate Middleton has opened up about the most ‘valuable’ lesson she learned during her cancer journey as she candidly opened up about both her physical and mental wellbeing.
On Wednesday (2 July), the 43-year-old Princess of Wales visited Colchester Hospital’s Cancer Wellbeing Centre where she planted ‘Catherine’s Rose’ to support cancer recovery.
During the visit, which marked her first appearance since missing Royal Ascot a few weeks back (18 June), she spoke candidly about the emotional and physical ‘post‑treatment phase’, sharing that the process has been ‘really, really difficult’ – remarks which some internet trolls ‘spotted’ a major issue with while others praised the princess’ candour.
Discussing how she’s faring following chemotherapy, the mother-of-three shared: “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.”
Kate Middleton, 43, shared an update on her cancer recovery journey at Colchester Hospital yesterday (2 July (WPA Pool / Pool / Getty Images)
Kate, who announced her diagnosis in March last year before confirming her remission earlier this year in January, then made the sad admission that she hasn’t been able to ‘function normally at home’ as she did before she started her cancer treatment.
“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,” she 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.”
Kate, who shares three children; Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, with her husband Prince William, hailed it as ‘life-changing’ for both the patient and their families.
“It is a life-changing experience both for the individual patient, but also for the families as well – and actually it sometimes goes unrecognised, you don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time, you don’t appreciate how much impact it is going to have,” she added.
Kate also discussed her ‘rollercoaster’ healing journey (Max Mumby/Indigo / Contributor / Getty Images)
She carried on: “Someone described the sort of healing, recovery journey to me as being like a sort of zig-zag.
“It’s a rollercoaster, it’s not one smooth plain, which you expect it to be, but the reality is it’s not, you go through hard times and to have a place like this, to have the support network, whether its through creativity and singing or gardening, whatever it might be, is so valuable and it’s great that this community has it.”
Kate concluded: “It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.”
Proceeds from the sale of Catherine’s Rose are set to support a national training programme for clinical teams to help patients who need intensive support live well with and after cancer.
Harkness Roses, who breed the flowers, and Kensington Palace will be donating 500 roses to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer.