Princess of Wales Visits Hospital Where She Received Cancer Treatment

The Princess of Wales mixed familiar pieces with new accessories for a visit to Royal Marsden Hospital today.

Much more importantly, the Princess announced she was in remission from cancer. The announcement was part of a social media post by the Princess.

It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focussed on recovery. As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal. I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.

As noted in this Telegraph piece, “It is the first time the Princess, or the palace, has used the word “remission” to describe her health.

The Royal Marsden is the first hospital in the world dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer—more from Kate Mansey’s story in The Times. 

Arriving at the hospital in Chelsea, the princess, 43, remarked on the novelty of arriving through the main entrance, saying: “Actually, it’s quite nice,” in contrast to going through a side door for “so many quiet, private visits”.

Today’s visit to the hospital was to thank doctors and staff and meet with patients.

She spoke about her own cancer journey and her treatment at The Royal Marsden.

More from The Daily Mail’s coverage. 

Revealing how she struggled with a gruelling course of preventative chemotherapy, she said ‘It’s really tough’, as she empathised with one patient who was having chemotherapy. ‘It’s such a shock,’ she added.

Recalling words of advice that helped her, the Princess said: ‘Everyone said to me “Please keep a positive mindset, it makes such a difference”,’ she said, adding that ‘When I came in everyone said make sure you have all your warm things [clothes] on’ because of the side effects.

Below, the Princess chatting with Peter Burton, a patient receiving treatment. 

We return to The Daily Mail article.

A number of the patients opened the conversation by asking how the Princess was feeling. She replied that she was doing well, but recalled the cycle of treatment, saying ‘Sometimes you feel relatively well, and then you have another one’.

‘Sometimes from the outside we all think “You’ve finished treatment and you go back to things”. But it’s hard to get back to normal,’ she said.

Chris Ship of ITV shared a video of the Princess speaking with patients. 

WATCH: Princess of Wales at the @royalmarsdenNHS today:
• spoke to cancer patients about the need to be resilient
• hugged a patient suffering the side effects of her treatment
• cancer taught to Kate to appreciate the small things in life
• spoke about having chemo port put… pic.twitter.com/ATJqDxWaNm

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) January 14, 2025

The Princess with Katherine Field.

More from Yahoo UK’s story. 

The princess also shared her experiences with Katherine Field, 45. Gesturing to her arm and chest, she discussed the port mechanism through which drugs flowed.

“I got so attached to it,” Kate said, joking that she had been almost reluctant to have hers removed when told she no longer needed it.

The Princess hugs patient Rebecca Mendelhson.

More from the Kate Mansey piece in The Times. 

The princess asked patients about their situations and asked about their families, hugging one patient’s relative as she left. On the importance of self-care during and after treatment, she said: “I really felt like I needed to get the sun. You need loads of water and loads of sunlight.”

When one woman’s medical equipment started beeping during their conversation, signalling treatment was needed, she said: “I recognise that beep!”

Here, you see her meeting Scout, a Pets as Therapy dog.

The Times reports, “Bending over to stroke Scout, who offered a paw, the Princess said: “I bet patients absolutely love her.”

And one more quote, this one from the BBC’s story. 

Catherine told a woman who was having chemotherapy: “It’s really tough… It’s such a shock…”. 

…the princess sympathised with those undergoing treatment – and described how she was still feeling the long-term effects. “You think the treatment has finished and you can crack on and get back to normal, but that’s still a real challenge,” she said. “The words totally disappear. And understanding that as a patient – yes, there are side effects around treatment, but actually there are more long-term side effects.”

The Marsden announced that the Prince and Princess of Wales are now joint patrons of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, noting, “Today’s visit carries forward The Royal Family’s proud tradition of supporting both the hospital and the Charity – The Prince of Wales has held the role of President of The Royal Marsden since 2007; a position which was previously held by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.”

Now for our look at what Kate wore for today’s engagement.

She was in a bespoke coat by BLAZÉ Milano, similar to the brand’s Lahloo Blazer shown below. The double-breasted coat features a large windowpane check with gathers at the waist, peak lapels, strong shoulders, and the brand’s iconic ‘smiley pockets.’

When the piece was first worn on Christmas Day in December 2021, we presumed it was the blazer. My guess is that it was the coat all along.

Beneath the coat, the Princess wore her Kiltane Scotland knit top, the label’s Cashmere Polo Neck Jumper (on sale for $95). The piece was paired with the Plait Skirt ($890) by Edeline Lee, a midi-length style featuring a deep asymmetrical pleat at the front waistline.

The top was first noted at a November 2022 rugby match, but we had a much better view of it during a day of February 2023 engagements in Cornwall when it was worn with the Edeline Lee skirt.

Thoughts on today’s look from The Telegraph’s Rebecca Cope. 

The Princess of Wales returned to public life in spectacular style on Tuesday wearing head-to-toe burgundy – one of the season’s most on trend hues, as seen on the catwalks of Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Chloé.

As Catherine’s first solo engagement of the year, and coming after such a long absence from the public stage, her outfit choice was no doubt well thought through. On the one hand, it shows her flying the flag for local design talent. While Kiltane is a heritage brand that champions traditional fabrics and methods, Edeline Lee is one of the hottest designers on the London Fashion Week schedule, showing that the Princess has her finger on the pulse of fashion right now. Her matching top handle bag was by another British heritage brand, Asprey London.

The Princess carried a new Asprey handbag, a bespoke version of the British brand’s Morgan style ($3700) in ‘ginger’ soft-grained leather with a suede interior. UPDATE JAN 15: I have updated the image and information on the bag carried by the Princess. 

We saw the return of the Russell and Bromley Pinpoint Pumps in brown suede, a style going back to at least 2018. The Princess was in a new (to us anyway, she may well have worn them before privately) pair of earrings, the Cartier Trinity Earrings ($3200) in 18-carat white, yellow, and rose gold. Thank you to Middleton Maven, Chrissy, and Kate Middleton Styled for their ID work. The earrings are shown below, along with two closeups of the rings worn by the Princess today.

This is one of Cartier’s signature designs and not the first Trinity style worn by the Princess. She wore the Cartier Trinity necklace for a 2012 National Portrait Gallery exhibit featuring Olympic and Paralympic portraits; it was worn again during the New York City visit in 2014. 

The Princess wore a smaller Cartier Trinity necklace during a visit to Paris in 2017.

With a pair of matching earrings.

The Princess also wore Cartier’s gold and diamond Trinity Earrings for a June 2016 Kensington Palace gala. 

It’s lovely to see the Princess at an engagement, but even better to hear the good news about her health. Here is one more photo from the day’s engagement. 

And here is the Princess’s complete social media post. 

And a video released by Kensington Palace covering today’s visit.

The work of the @royalmarsden is world-leading, pioneering and life-saving.

It’s a remarkable charity supporting advances in cancer research, treatment and care, and the work of a hospital that has done so much for so many. pic.twitter.com/NpjSdAukfA

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 14, 2025

ADDITIONAL VIDEOS: 

A Sky News story about the visit. 

The Princess of Wales has visited the Royal Marsden Hospital where she received cancer treatment.

Kate thanked the staff who had looked after her during her cancer treatment, and met other patients undergoing treatment at the hospitalhttps://t.co/aCONzCQUdo pic.twitter.com/EPJGaOVIXy

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 14, 2025

The Royal Family Channel’s five minutes of coverage.