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Kate Middleton will not return to royal duties despite foundation work
Princess Kate Middleton continues her royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment, but she is not yet returning to public duties.
While she is “excited” about the next phase of her work at Early Childhood, a representative made it clear that she is still on leave. “This is a clear commitment she has made that this will be the focus throughout her life in public service. This will remain the case when she returns to work,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told the newspaper Daily email on Monday, May 20. “But we have made it very clear that she now needs the space and privacy to recover. She will return to work once she has been given the green light by the doctors.”
Kate, 42, launched the Royal Foundation Centre for early childhood in June 2021 to “promote awareness and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years to transform society for the future,” according to the foundation’s website. She was launched in January 2023 the Shaping Us campaign and in March of that year Kate founded tthe Business Task Force with eight of Britain’s leading companies.
On Tuesday 21 May, “some of Britain’s most important businesses” joined forces to make “an important early years appeal”, asking all business leaders to support the Center for Early Childhood to “help change the way transform our country in the crucial first years,” Christian guyexecutive director of The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, said in a statement People on Monday.
Kate Middleton
Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Daniel Leal – WPA Pool/Getty Images Princess Kate Middleton chose to tackle her ongoing battle with cancer on her own time. Kate’s last official public appearance before taking a break was in December 2023. A month later, Kensington Palace confirmed that Kate would not be involved in royal engagements until after April at the earliest. […]
“This is another pivotal moment for Her Royal Highness’s children’s work,” continued Guy. “Its impact, and the work of her Center for Early Childhood, continues as she recovers.”
This coincided with the Center for Early Childhood foundation launching their report ‘Prioritizing Early Childhood for a Happier, Healthier Society’ on Tuesday, which detailed how ‘businesses can drive and benefit from transformative social change’. The biggest takeaway from the report was that introducing family-friendly working practices and investing in early childhood could generate almost $58 million for the UK economy.
“The work of The Prince and Princess projects is ‘always ongoing’, and this has been no different for the Center over the past five months. Much progress has been made [Guy, the center’s director]’s leadership,” Monday’s statement continued. “However, early childhood is a major priority for the Princess and she has therefore been kept fully informed of the development of the Taskforce’s work and has seen the report.”
Kate has stepped back from her public duties after undergoing abdominal surgery in January. After questions arose about her whereabouts, the Princess of Wales revealed on March 22 that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventive treatment.
The royal line of succession has been shaken and shifted – but where do members of the British royal family stand when it comes to their place in the line to the throne? Queen Elizabeth II had been head of the Commonwealth since 1952, when she died in September 2022 at the age of 18. […]
Guy told People on Monday that Kate is “hugely grateful” to the Taskforce for their “fantastic progress.” He added: “She feels passionate about the transformative impact of getting this right, both for the current generation and for many more to come.”
He went on to say that Kate was “keen to encourage” businesses to join the initiative.
“Shaping Us was about raising awareness, but what’s also so important to her is action,” Guy said. “So seeing eight of Britain’s most important companies coming forward to make the case to their fellow business leaders is exciting for her and a priority for the Center going forward.”
