A year on, Kate getting smiles better

IT’S a video no one will forget. Sitting on a bench on the Windsor estate, with spring blooms behind her, the Princess of Wales looks into the camera and says: “I have cancer and I’ve started chemotherapy.”

- By Emily Ferguson Royal Editor

The candid two-minute film, broadcast 12 months ago, showed Kate at her most vulnerable, clasping her hands together for comfort and appearing close to tears.

Her hair was perfectly curled but she wore little make-up as she told us the news came as a “huge shock” and she needed time to process it with husband William and consider the best interests of the couple's children.

Behind Palace walls, staff were reportedly reduced to tears when they were told of her diagnosis and aides were left “deeply affected” by the news. The same sentiments were reflected in the British public’s outpouring of love and support. A year on, a lot has changed. The princess is in remission, having concluded her treatment at the end of the summer.

And in January she made an emotional return to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London where she received treatment.