The Princess of Wales's return has been coined 'typically Kate'
Credit: MATT PORTEOUS
Leaning on a weeping willow on the Windsor estate,the Princess of Wales looks,at first glance,like she has never been away.
It is only her moving personal statement that belies just what she has been facing in private this year; a course of chemotherapy that has left her weak,tired,and determined to make the most of the energy she has.
She has “good days and bad days”,she says,and is “not out of the woods yet”.
“I am making good progress,” she reassured the watching world,finding joy in her family life and connecting to nature as a source of healing.
In the first official update about her health since March 22,the Princess revealed that she will be joining her family for Trooping the Colour on Saturday,back in front of the world’s cameras for a high-impact,high-profile day at the heart of the royal calendar.
For admirers of the Royal family,it will be a joyous welcome return for the Princess,who will be seen in the carriage and on the palace balcony with the three young children whose wellbeing has been so central to her plans this year.
Surpassing all expectations,she will attend the full outing under plans that have been tentatively in the works for weeks but only confirmed at the last minute.
This,it is thought,will be the pattern in the months to come.
The Princess hopes to return to a form of public engagements,already working from home when she can and easing herself back into meetings.
She has several months of preventative chemotherapy to come,hoping to join a few public engagements over the summer,“but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet”.
Palace sources have ruled out Garter Day and Royal Ascot in the coming weeks,but everything else – Wimbledon,the Japanese State Visit,and bread-and-butter engagements – remains a possibility.
The watchword at Kensington Palace,caution,still holds. They will not be confirming appearances too far in advance,and have emphasised over and over that the Princess is not making a full return to work.
Her reappearance at Trooping,therefore,will have all the power of a rockstar comeback. Instead of the Catherine-shaped hole on the Buckingham Palace balcony that had been feared – her absence glaring as her young family tried to carry on without her – she will be at the heart of the King’s official birthday celebrations,back where she belongs.
It is,royal watchers will note,a typically “Kate” return: under-promising and over-delivering,with a powerful emotional message,a surprise photograph,and a full-scale outing to come that no one would have expected her to manage.
In a royal career of perfectionism,the Princess is staying true to form.
Her appearance at Trooping will also have the effect of squashing,once and for all,the rumours about her health and whereabouts that have swirled around the world all year.
By being so candid in her words,she has left no room for speculation: she has been ill,times have been hard,and she is getting better.
“I am learning how to be patient,especially with uncertainty,” she says. “Taking each day as it comes,listening to my body,and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal.”
Resting has not come naturally to the active Princess,we gather,but she is trying. As with any patient having chemotherapy,there is no crystal ball to predict when and where we will see her in public again.
But Trooping the Colour will be a welcome reminder of all that we have missed.
This year’s balcony will contain a King and a Princess both undergoing gruelling medical treatment,and the family who have supported them through it all.
Rarely will the welcome of the crowd have been warmer; never will the emotions on the balcony have been more complex.
The Princess of Wales,however temporarily,is coming back. It would simply not have been the same without her.