Kate Middleton breaks cover for hospital visit after pulling out of Royal Ascot
Kate Middleton has made her first public appearance since she pulled out of Royal Ascot and visited a hospital. During her visit, the Princess of Wales opened up about the expectations surrounding finishing cancer treatment.
The 43 year old returned to work and stopped by Colchester Hospital on Wednesday where she visited the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) Wellbeing Garden
Princess Kate's visit celebrates the healing power of nature and she hopes to raise the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing joy and supporting mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing, according to The Mirror.
This comes just two weeks on from her pulling out of attending the Royal Ascot for the second successive year as she seeks the right balance following her treatment for cancer. Since announcing back in January that she is in remission, Kate has been gradually returning to public duties.
And during her visit to the hospital, Kate opened up on her own experience of cancer treatment and expectations surrounding finishing treatment.
Speaking with users, volunteers and staff at hospital's Cancer Wellbeing Centre, Kate said: "There is this whole phase when you finish your treatment that you, yourself, everybody expects you, right you've finished your time, go, you're better, and that's not the case at all."
It comes as Kate met with with award-winning garden designer Adam Frost, who led the design of the garden, and hear about how he worked with NHS staff through the design and consultation process to ensure the garden addresses the needs of staff and patients.
The garden, which opened in July 2024, is a relaxing and restorative space for NHS staff, patients and visitors and is described a vital hub for the community, offering activities for those working in or visiting the hospital.
It was created in partnership with the RHS, Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity and NHS Charities Together, the latter of which is a joint patronage of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Wellbeing Garden at Colchester, and the impact it has on patients and NHS workers, forms part of the research for the RHS' Blueprint for Wellbeing Gardens, which will launch next year.
Kate's visit also coincides with the donation of 50 'Catherine Roses' to the garden, which she helped to plant. The rose, named after the princess, is being sold by the RHS with funds from sale of them going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Kate was treated at the Royal Marsden following her cancer diagnosis last year.
In addition, 500 'Catherine's Rose' plants will be donated to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie's gardens for people affected by cancer, East Anglia's Children's Hospices and Horatio's Gardens for those living with spinal injuries.
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BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin said: 'It's worrying that NHS England appears intent on telling hospitals to continue providing non-urgent planned care on strike days, despite our warnings that this will leave staffing levels unsafe across the board. 'At best this will leave hospital managers and senior doctors confused over what they should be planning for this week, resulting in last-minute cancellations, and at worst puts patients at risk in both emergency and planned care settings. 'Senior doctors cannot simultaneously cover for striking resident doctors in emergency departments, while also continuing routine work, and NHS England is being irresponsible by suggesting they can do both. 'The priority on strike days must be emergency and urgent care.' Strikes by resident doctors last June led to 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments being rescheduled. Since the end of 2022, almost 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The BMA said on Tuesday that talks with the Government aimed at averting the strike had collapsed over the core issue of pay. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said in a statement: 'We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government. 'We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today. 'Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges. 'While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors' finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting said 'we cannot move on pay after a 28.9 per cent pay rise' but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors' working lives. He said there was an opportunity for the union 'to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors' working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression. 'Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.' He added: 'All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work. 'After a 28.9 per cent pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning. A YouGov poll showed about half (52 per cent) of people in the UK 'somewhat oppose' (20 per cent) or 'strongly oppose' (32 per cent) resident doctors going on strike over pay. A third (34 per cent) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23 per cent) or 'strongly support' (11 per cent) doctor strikes. YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48 per cent opposed the strikes and 39 per cent supported them. Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the decision for strikes to go ahead 'is a crushing blow for patients and for the NHS'. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.
