Kate thanks staff at cancer hospital where she was treated

The Princess of Wales has made a personal visit to thank staff at the hospital where she was treated for cancer.

Catherine met medical staff at the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London on Tuesday morning, thanking them for their care and compassion – on a visit that also confirmed that this was where she had undergone treatment.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The princess wanted to make the journey to both show her gratitude to the incredible team, but also highlight the world leading care and treatment the Marsden provides.”

She also spoke to cancer patients and offered them her support, in what was her most significant solo royal engagement since her treatment ended.

Catherine saw some of the different approaches being used at the hospital and said: “The treatments are really so different and so varied, it impacts families differently.”

She also spoke of the different perspective of arriving as a visitor rather than a patient: “I was just saying, coming in the front entrance here, having made so many quiet, private visits, actually it’s quite nice.”

The princess was told by a patient: “I think you’ve managed the children amazingly well.” Catherine replied: “Oh that’s kind.”

It’s almost a year since the princess’s health problems were first revealed – with an announcement last January that she had undergone abdominal surgery.

Catherine then announced in a video statement in March that she was in the early stages of receiving cancer treatment – and in September released a video saying that her chemotherapy had ended.

Since the end of her treatment she has gradually returned to more public events, including Remembrance Sunday and her Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey, which were seen as positive signs of her recovery.

The princess has now made her first big engagement of 2025 – a return to the hospital where she was treated, going to see those who helped her at the Royal Marsden, which specialises in cancer treatment and research.

Catherine is now becoming the hospital’s joint royal patron, with Prince William already a patron.

Diana, Princess of Wales, had been a previous royal patron.

The Royal Marsden, which treats 59,000 patients each year, was founded as a specialist cancer hospital in 1851.