Several reports over the past week have revealed the behind-the-scenes tensions about Kate Middleton’s health and cancer recovery, her shock decision to suddenly withdraw from the Royal Ascot horse-racing festival last week and her need to focus on “recalibrating her entire life,” amid the demands of royal duties and global attention.
A report by the Daily Mail’s well-sourced royal correspondent Rebecca English said that the Princess of Wales was “seriously unwell” for some time before she went into the hospital in January 2024 for what was described as major abdominal surgery for an unspecified health condition. As Kate herself revealed two months later, the surgery led to her diagnosis with a form of cancer that also wasn’t specified, followed by a “grueling” 18-month treatment battle that took her to “hell and back,” English said.
“And while that is a story only for her to tell — if she ever chooses to do so — I can say that, from what I understand, she is fortunate to even be speaking of recovery,” English wrote.
Catherine, as she is more officially known, announced this past January that she was in remission. But while she “may be glowing on the outside” at her public appearances, the drama over her last-minute non-attendance at Ascot is “a timely reminder that the princess was really very poorly not so long ago,” English also said.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 14: Princess Charlotte of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales at Horse Guards Parade during Trooping The Colour 2025 on June 14, 2025 in London, England. Trooping The Colour is a ceremonial parade celebrating the official birthday of the British Monarch. The event features over 1,400 soldiers and officers, accompanied by 200 horses. More than 400 musicians from ten different bands and Corps of Drums march and while performing. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)
Sources similarly told Tom Sykes, the Daily Beast’s European editor at large, that Kate’s decision to skip Ascot was a “wake-up call” to palace staffers, as well as her way to push back against institutional expectations and to insist on taking as much time as she needs to heal. The future queen and wife of Prince William dutifully put in two other high-profile appearances at Trooping the Color on June 14 and Garter Day on June 16. It looks like the plan for her to do three appearances in under a week was “too much,” Sykes reported.
“The lesson has been learned,” a royal insider told Sykes. “Kate will take it much easier for the rest of the year. I’d be surprised if you see her more than three times in the next three months.”
Another source told Sykes: “Kate is recalibrating her entire life, her entire work-life balance.” Her decision to skip Ascot “was a wake-up call, not a one-off,” the source continued, saying: “She has never found the public appearances, and the forensic attention and criticism that goes with them, at all easy to deal with, and it was just too much.”
The source also described how the past couple years have been “horrific” for Kate, as she heard the “disgusting things” that her brother-in-law, Prince Harry, said about her and William, while dealing with “the relentless speculation about her marriage.” The death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 put added pressure on her and William to take on more royal responsibilities. Then came King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis, “which had them both thinking they were going to have to take over,” the source said.
“It’s all taken its toll, and if she needs more time to recover, William will fight tooth and nail to see she is given it,” the source said.
Another source told the Daily Mail’s English that Kate’s physical recovery remains a “work in progress.” But her cancer battle has given her “mental clarity” about her priorities.
“On some levels I actually think this is a good reminder that she was really seriously ill last year and underwent a significant period of chemo,” a source told English. “As anyone who has been through that experience will tell you, you can feel very unwell for a long time afterwards. It can take years (to recover).”