PAUSING for a moment on the way back to their holiday cottage, William and Kate stood to admire the picturesque view.
Wrapping their arms around each other, William leant in to give his wife a kiss as they looked out over the beautiful Isle of Mull in western Scotland.
7
7
7
They could not have looked happier in the photo issued to commemorate their 14th wedding anniversary last month – which is quite something, given the “terrible” year they had in 2024, during which Kate faced abdominal surgery, followed by cancer diagnosis and treatment.
From the brave video message she recorded among the daffodils last spring to announce she had cancer, to the joyful family video at the end of last summer when she’d finished chemotherapy, and the heartfelt message in January 2025 to say she was in remission, Kate has managed to remain upbeat while giving an insight into how tough it has been for the family.
“Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,” she said last year.
But it was her husband’s blunt assessment that this has been “probably the hardest year in my life” that tells its own story, given the trauma he faced from a very young age with the acrimonious breakdown of his parents’ marriage and then the death of his mother.
So, how did the mum of three manage to survive through it all with her family?
At the heart of this is the steel of the Princess of Wales, which may come as a surprise to some.
Kate, at times, may look like a fragile wallflower, but the former Miss Middleton is made of tough stuff.
Although she has borne the physical brunt of surgery and then chemotherapy, she has remained stoic, positive and always putting William, 42, and their children George, 11, Charlotte, 10, and Louis, seven, first.
That’s not to say she has come through her cancer journey unscathed.
A close friend says: “Last spring and early summer, things were really very tough. Catherine was very ill and William genuinely had to confront the possibility that he could lose his wife and his father [who has also been battling cancer].
“Keeping things as normal as possible for the ‘kiddies’, as Catherine calls them, was paramount. Her mum in particular was a tower of strength and support.”
As the Princess has said herself, nature and the natural world has been key to both her return to physical health and mental stability.
In a social media post to mark Mother’s Day, she wrote: “Over the past year, nature has been our sanctuary.”
A visit with the Scouts to the beautiful wilderness of the Lake District in March also served to underscore this theme.
Kate, 43, has always loved gardening, and any outdoor activity – be it sailing, skiing, tennis, fell walking, hockey, forest bathing, running or cycling – has been her go-to.
At Anmer Hall in Norfolk, the Princess went for walks and swam in the sea as she rebuilt both her mental and physical strength during and after her cancer treatment.
King Charles has shared with her a passion for wild mushroom foraging, and they have supported each other as they both navigate their own cancer journeys.
Her illness, she said, has given her a new perspective – a “very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection” with the outside world.
It is a personal revelation that she is now putting at the heart of her return to public life.
What’s really interesting in this new direction is how much the Princess is now willing to share of herself.
The Princess has not rushed back to work. She’s putting family first while they’re still young.
Always an intensely private person, we rarely heard from Kate on how she was feeling or what she was thinking. Now, we do, and she wants to use her deeply personal trauma to help others.
“The Princess herself has spoken movingly over the past 13 months of the power that nature has played in her recovery,” says a palace source.
“That is definitely a message of both her private life and her public work going forward.”
From a Welsh community garden in February, to a visit in the Lake District with the Scouts as their President, her public engagements in recent months have almost all been held outdoors – chiming with her social media posts over the last year.
The Princess has not rushed back to work – conscious that her time as Queen is nearing and thus wanting to put her immediate family unit first while they are still young.
That was evidenced by her decision to break Easter traditions this year.
In years gone by, the Wales’ have dutifully trooped to St George’s Chapel, before lunch back at Buckingham Palace with the King and Queen.
7
7
However, this year they spent Easter in the Norfolk countryside with the Middletons, attending church privately for a service on Sandringham Estate and leaving via the back door, despite a small crowd forming hoping to greet them.
With their youngest, Louis, now seven, and the elder two siblings heading into their tweens, the Wales’ focus is firmly on maintaining a strong family unit.
Their parenting values are very similar, because William has always admired the way his parents-in-law, Carole and Mike, created such a happy and tight-knit family (in contrast to his own fractured childhood).
While he was at the University of St Andrews, Kate’s parents welcomed him into their home as a second son during the academic holidays.
The Middleton way is lots of sport, outdoor activities, mutual love and respect, and lots of family time.
The Wales children are expected to set the table, wash up and tidy their rooms.
It’s unlikely they have much screen time, let alone phones, because their father has spoken out so vehemently on the dangers of social media and big tech.
Kate’s passion for – and huge knowledge of – the patterns set in early childhood, have meant that George, Charlotte and Louis have had the most “normal” childhood possible – if a royal childhood can ever be normal.
Official portraits are shared for birthdays and occasional other significant dates, as both William and Kate acknowledge the public interest in their children, but fiercely guard their privacy.
Catherine has always put a huge amount of pressure on herself, but she is now more forgiving.
School choices are looming for Prince George, as he will move on to secondary school next September at age 13.
Gordonstoun in Scotland was traditionally the royals’ school of choice, but not for the Wales trio.
Eton College, which his father attended, is a front-runner, but it’s understood Kate would like to keep all three children together, so her old co-ed alma mater of Marlborough College in Wiltshire could be the preferred option.
What has also been evident is that Catherine is now prepared to be more relaxed in how she appears in public.
The way she has communicated directly, and from the heart, has certainly changed.
7
7
Where once she and her husband would only hold hands when they were off camera, now William is much more relaxed in public.
Their candid home videos from last September, announcing that the Princess had successfully finished her chemotherapy, featured intimate, never-before-seen moments, including the couple kissing, lying side by side on the beach and Kate resting her head on William’s shoulder as they embraced.
In Scotland earlier this month, they were even more tactile than usual, happy to laugh with others and at each other.
During a visit to a community hall refurbishment, which their Royal Foundation has paid for, the Princess playfully cajoled her decidedly less-artistic husband to join her painting a flower on a mural, and congratulated him with a rub on the back with her head leaning on his shoulder.
When someone admired her prowess with a nail gun, and she revealed she’d been given a chainsaw for Christmas, an onlooker exclaimed: “What can’t she do?” William gave a theatrical sigh and admitted proudly: “That always happens.”
Although Kate has always viewed herself as the support act to William, the public reaction and widespread support to her during her illness, and the affection in which she is held, shows how crucial she is to the longevity and success of the monarchy.
Yet her illness has made her realise that family is everything, and it must always come first.
“Some people who have a life-changing experience, it makes them realise they don’t have all the time in the world,” says royal biographer Robert Jobson.
“Catherine has always put a huge amount of pressure on herself, but she is now more forgiving, not forcing herself to be the best all the time.
“A public engagement, a tour or a project has to be OK for her – to suit her – rather than she has to do something for appearance’s sake or just because she’s royal.
“It’s more important for her to prioritise herself, whether that may be going to the gym or playing tennis. The reason for this shift is partly the cancer and partly because she’s more comfortable in her role.”
More than ever, William and Catherine have shown how they will do things their way – rewriting the royal rulebook to cement and celebrate their enduring love and happy family after the toughest of years.
