Princess of Wales: Buckingham Palace confirms Kate will attend Remembrance events

The Princess of Wales is to attend both the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph and the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend, Buckingham Palace announced.

It marks the next significant step in Kate’s gradual return to public royal duties as she prepares to join the King and the Prince of Wales to honour Britain’s war dead.

Kate, who revealed eight months ago she had an undisclosed form of the disease, will attend the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening and then the national commemoration at the Cenotaph on Sunday.

It will be the first time she has carried out two consecutive days of public official engagements since the start of the year.

The Queen’s attendance over the weekend will, however, be subject to medical advice nearer the time.

Camilla, 77, is unwell with a chest infection and was forced to pull out of engagements earlier this week. She is still resting at her Wiltshire home Raymill.

In a video Kate released in September, she revealed she had finished her chemotherapy treatment, and spoke of how she was “looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months”.

Kate will watch, as is tradition, from above, on the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office balcony overlooking Whitehall, taking part in the solemn two-minute silence and viewing the veterans’ march past.

The princess, 42, has made just a handful of public appearances so far in 2024, after she underwent major abdominal surgery in January and then was diagnosed with cancer.

Her last engagement was a month ago, when she made a surprise trip to meet families whose children were killed in the Southport attack and speak to emergency workers who helped at the scene after the devastating knife attack.

In her heartfelt video in September, Kate opened up about her cancer journey, as the Wales family were shown enjoying time together outdoors.

The princess said she was entering “this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life”.

“The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family,” she said.

“Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long.”

Also attending the Festival of Remembrance and the Cenotaph service will be the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and the Duke of Kent.

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is staged annually on the Saturday evening of Remembrance weekend.

It honours sacrifices made by the British and Commonwealth armed forces community and includes musical performances and personal testimonies.

This year’s festival will showcase the contribution of the World War II generation 80 years on from the D-Day landings, and commemorate 25 years since Nato peacekeeping forces were deployed in Kosovo, and 10 years since the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.