Kate, Princess of Wales, says she’s ‘not out of the woods’ in health update – as royal releases new picture
The Princess of Wales has said she is “not out of the woods yet” and has “a few more months” of cancer treatment to go, as she gave an update on her health.
Kate also said she would attend a public engagement tomorrow.
She has been undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, since being diagnosed with an unspecified type of the disease earlier this year.
In a statement released today, she said she is “making good progress” but has “good days and bad days”.
The statement is accompanied by a new photograph of Kate.
“On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting,” she said. “On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home.”
Kate confirmed she will attend the King’s birthday parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, with her family in London tomorrow.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King is “delighted the princess is able to attend” and “much looking forward to all elements of the day”.
It is understood Kate’s attendance at the event is not to be taken as a return to full public duties.
“[I] hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” Kate continued in her statement.
Read more:
Princess of Wales’s statement in full
Kate was photographed surrounded by nature in the grounds at Windsor. Pic: Matt Porteous.
“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Kate’s update would be “especially meaningful to those who are fighting cancer and for their families”.
“They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength,” he added, saying the “whole country is behind her”.
This will be the princess’s first public engagement since December 2023 when she joined the rest of the Royal Family at the annual Christmas Day church service at Sandringham.
Kate with Prince George and Prince Louis on Christmas Day 2023. Pic. AP
She was admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery on 16 January and the operation was made public the following day, when Kensington Palace said she was recovering.
The palace kept details of Kate’s health private in the months that followed.
A picture of Kate with her three children was released to mark Mother’s Day on 10 March – but the snap sparked a photo editing controversy which fuelled online speculation about the princess’s health.
Kate shared her cancer diagnosis with the public on 22 March.
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March: Kate reveals she’s having cancer treatment
At the time, in a pre-recorded video message, she said her planned abdominal surgery in January was successful and while it was initially thought her condition was non-cancerous, tests found cancer had been present.
She then began receiving treatment, including chemotherapy, which started in February, and was recovering in private.
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The Prince of Wales has attended engagements solo since April and given a handful of updates on Kate while meeting with the public.
In May, he said Kate was “doing well” and earlier this month, he told a D-Day veteran she would have “loved” to attend the 80th anniversary commemorations in France.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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