Kate Middleton has made a surprise return to the hospital where she was treated for cancer.
On Friday, Sept. 11, the Princess of Wales, 44, visited the Royal Marsden Hospital in London to meet patients currently undergoing treatment and to learn about how the funds raised through her National Three Peaks Challenge will help support holistic care across the U.K.
Kate secretly climbed the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales — Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, respectively — within 24 hours in June. The charity climb aimed to highlight the importance of holistic care and support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
“This is my small way of being able to give back and say thank you to you,” Kate said on Friday, per U.K. newspaper The Times. “I had incredible care here and support from a huge team and I’m really really grateful on a personal level.”
“But also the holistic care, the treatments and therapeutic support on the outside is so important,” she continued. “It makes a big difference, the impact of nature, the impact of good nutrition, good ongoing support around you when it’s really difficult to manage the trials and tribulations of medical treatments … it makes a big difference.”
“It made a big difference to me and it made a huge difference to lots of patients who I’ve spoken to. Thank you and well done,” Kate added.
The Princess of Wales became Joint Patron of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, alongside The Prince of Wales, in 2025 following her personal cancer journey, during which she received treatment at The Royal Marsden.
She wore an ankle-length green dress with black slingback heels for her visit to the hospital on Friday.
Kate discovered the “really exciting” way the funds raised through her National Three Peaks Challenge will help to develop a new specialist Center for Holistic Wellbeing and Recovery and saw the site where it will be built.
She also heard how holistic care, integrating physical, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing, can enhance cancer patients’ recovery and healing.
READ: The Reason Princess Kate Missed King Harald’s Funeral
“I think it will be transformative not only for patients but for families too,” she said of the new facility, per The Times.
The amount of money the Princess of Wales raised through her secret challenge has not been shared publicly. She previously spoke about completing the fundraiser “not simply as a physical endeavor,” but “as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back.”
Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis in a personal video message in March 2024, following an announcement two months prior that she would be undergoing “planned abdominal surgery.”
Almost a year later, in January 2025, she shared that she was in remission during a surprise visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after me so well during the past year,” Kate said in a statement on X at the time. “My heartfelt thanks goes to all those who have quietly walked alongside William and me as we have navigated everything.”
English