Princess of Wales confirms cancer remission, visits patients and thanks staff at Royal Marsden

The Princess of Wales confirmed last night that she is “in remission” from cancer after an emotional visit to the hospital where she had chemotherapy.

In a personally written statement, Kate thanked staff at the Royal Marsden in London for “looking after me so well” and acknowledged all those who have “quietly walked alongside William and me’ over the past difficult year.

She described the news as a “relief” but confirmed that she would not be returning to full-time royal duties just yet as she adjusts to a “new normal”.

However, after undertaking her first solo engagement in more than a year she also said she was looking forward to a “fulfilling” year ahead.

It is the first time the princess, 43, has used the word “remission” to describe where she is on her long road to recovery.

Earlier yesterday she had made good on her promise to stand side by side with fellow sufferers.

She met patients to show support and thanked staff for their “exceptional care, support and compassion” during some of her darkest hours over the past 12 months.

The hour-long visit overran by 20 minutes as the princess hugged patients and talked in extraordinarily candid detail about her own treatment.

She joked that it was a novelty for her to enter through the front door, having made “so many quiet visits” in “secrecy”.

Kate was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer following major abdominal surgery last January and spent much of the year away from the limelight as she undertook a course of “preventative chemotherapy”, from which she is still recovering.

Speaking to Katherine Field, 45, who was wearing a cold cap to preserve her hair during her chemotherapy, Kate gestured to her own arm and chest to discuss the semi-permanent “port” mechanism used to deliver the medicine that she seemingly also had fitted.

“I got so attached to it,’ she said, joking that she had hesitated when finally told, “You can have it taken out”.

She is not thought to have used a cold cap herself.

Talking about the Marsden she told Ms Field, a 45-year-old breast cancer patient: “They’ve been fantastic. You feel in good hands.”

She later leaned in for a tight hug with Rebecca Mendlesohn, 57, who is being treated for secondary cancer – breast and liver – and Tina Adumou, whose 19-year-old daughter is currently in ICU and broke down in tears when she told Kate about it.

Putting an arm around her, the princess reassured her that she was in the best possible place.

“I wish I could do more,” she said.

“It will get better. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

She was also introduced to Scout, the on-hand Pets As Therapy dog, and said: “I bet patients absolutely love her.”

The princess will now join her husband Prince William in becoming a joint royal patron of the hospital. The prince’s mother, Diana, held the position before him.

In her social media post, Kate wrote: “In my new role my hope is that by supporting groundbreaking research and clinical excellence, as well as promoting patient and family wellbeing, we might save many more lives.”