KATE'S NEW NORMAL

As the princess returns to work, Emily Andrews reveals how life is changing for our future Queen

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That was Kate's message to us this time last year in her video announcing she had finished chemotherapy and was returning to work.

But neither she, nor perhaps the public - who were delighted to see her back at royal engagements - expected what came next to be quite so tough.

Behind the scenes, recovery from her abdominal surgery, cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy had taken its toll.

'Last summer, she was very weak,' says a friend. 'The chemo was brutal. It meant that she's completely reevaluated her life and figured out her priorities: her family and her kids. Now, if she doesn't want to do something, she doesn't.'

So those asking if or when the Princess of Wales is ready to return to public life full-time have a clear answer. This is her new normal. So far this year, she has done a handful of engagements, two 'away' days with Prince William (to Wales and Scotland), and there are no plans for any foreign tours this year.

Priority has been given to state occasions - she dazzled at the French and American state visits at Windsor Castle, looked to be thoroughly enjoying herself at Trooping the Colour and attended VE-Day 80th anniversary commemorations. She also accompanied her husband to the Commonwealth Day and Holocaust Memorial Day services.

The great outdoors

But aside from that, any other public engagement has either to fit in with her family life - spending as much time as possible with George, 12, Charlotte, 10, and Louis, seven - or her new outlook on life.