Princess Kate Middleton is continuing her royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment — but she’s not returning to public facing duties just yet.
Though she’s “excited” about the next stage in her work with Early Childhood, a representative clarified that she’s still on leave. “This is a clear commitment she has made that throughout her life of public service that this will be focus. That will continue when she returns to work,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told the Daily Mail on Monday, May 20. “But we have been really clear that she needs the space and the privacy to recover right now. She will return to work when she has had the green light from doctors.”
Kate, 42, launched the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in June 2021 to “drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years, in order to transform society for the future,” according to the foundation’s website. In January 2023, she launched the Shaping Us campaign and by March of that year, Kate established the Business Taskforce with eight of the U.K.’s leading businesses.
On Tuesday, May 21, “some of the most significant businesses in Britain” joined forces to deliver “a major early years rallying call” asking all business leaders to stand with the Centre for Early Childhood to “help transform the way our country supports the vital early years,” Christian Guy, executive director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, shared in a statement to People on Monday.
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“This is another crucial moment for Her Royal Highness’s early childhood work,” Guy continued. “Its impact, and the work of her Centre for Early Childhood, is rolling on as she recovers.”
This coincided with the Centre for Early Childhood foundation launching their “Prioritizing Early Childhood for a Happier, Healthier Society” report on Tuesday, which detailed how “businesses can drive, and benefit from, transformative societal change.” The report’ biggest takeaway was that introducing family-friendly work practices and investing in early childhood could generate nearly $58 million for the U.K. economy.
“The work of The Prince and Princess’ projects is ‘always on,’ and that has been no different for the Centre over the past five months with a great deal of progress being made under [Guy, the center’s director]’s leadership,” Monday’s statement continued. “However, early childhood is a huge priority for the Princess and so she has been kept fully updated throughout the development of the Taskforce’s work, and she has seen the report.”
Kate has taken a step back from her public-facing duties after undergoing an abdominal surgery in January. After questions about her whereabouts rose, the Princess of Wales revealed on March 22 that she was diagnosed with cancer and undergoing preventative treatment.
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Guy told People on Monday that Kate is “enormously grateful” to the Taskforce for their “fantastic progress.” He added, “She feels passionately about the transformational impact of getting this right together, both for the current generation and for many more to come.”
He went on to say that Kate is “keen to encourage” businesses to join the initiative.
“Shaping Us was about raising awareness, but also what is so important to her is action,” Guy said. “So, to have eight of the most significant businesses in Britain come forward to make the case to their fellow business leaders is exciting for her and a priority going forward for the Centre.”
