Princess of Wales Kate Middleton on Friday (June 14) said that she is making “good progress” in her cancer treatment and will attend the royal Trooping the Color ceremony on Saturday, in her first public appearance since her diagnosis. Kate, 42-year-old wife of Prince William, has not made any public appearances this year. She made an announcement in March that she was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer.
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” Kate said in a statement released on Friday, while also adding that she faces “a few more months” of treatment.
“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” Kate added.
The announcement is a significant milestone, but does not mark a return to full-time public duties for Kate. Trooping the Color, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, is an annual military parade that marks the monarch’s official birthday in June. King Charles III, who also is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, is due to oversee the ceremony, in which troops in full dress uniform parade past the king with their ceremonial flag, or “colour.”
Kate is expected to travel in a horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace with the couple’s children — Prince George, 10; Princess Charlotte, 9; and Prince Louis, who is 6 — before watching the ceremony from a building beside the parade ground. She may also join other royals for a traditional Buckingham Palace balcony appearance.
(With AP inputs)