Kate is taking her cancer journey step by step as public return edges closer – analysis by Cameron Walker

The Court Circular, which is the official record of the Royal Family’s activities, has recorded the first official meeting held by the princess since she started her cancer treatment back in February.

The Princess of Wales had a meeting on Tuesday in Windsor Castle about The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she set up in June 2021, and its subsequent awareness campaign ‘Shaping Us’, which was launched in January 2023.

Yesterday’s meeting was recorded in the Court Circular as: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle.”

It is likely the meeting included members of her official household team, and staff from the Centre for Early Childhood, and suggests the princess could be planning further public engagements focused on her early years work.

But the princess, and her team, will be careful to make sure that she can walk before she can run.

A private meeting taking place a five-minute drive from her home is far less physically demanding than a full- scale public engagement, taking place miles away.

Although the princess has now confirmed she has completed her course of preventative chemotherapy, I am getting the impression she still has good days and bad days with her health.

Her husband, Prince William, told wellwishers in Llanelli in South Wales earlier this month that the end of his wife’s chemotherapy was “good news”, but added his wife still has “a long way to go”.

Kensington Palace is unlikely to confirm any public engagements until much closer to the time, perhaps a wise move given the level of unnecessary hysteria which would explode on social media if the princess was forced to pull out of an engagement last minute.

I understand Her Royal Highness is keen to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at The Cenotaph with the other members of the Royal Family in November, and has started planning her annual Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey.

But Kensington Palace is understandably cautious about any confirmation; it is up to The Princess and her medical team about what she feels comfortable doing as she continues her cancer journey.