King Charles and Queen Camilla want Kate Middleton a cheerful birthday as she turns 43 after household’s ‘brutal’ 12 months with most cancers diagnoses

King Charles and Queen Camilla have led the birthday tributes for The Princess of Wales as she turns 43 today.

Taking to their Instagram account, the King and Queen shared a sweet photo of Kate Middleton from her Christmas Day walk at Sandringham, 

They added a sweet caption reading ‘Happy birthday to the Princess of Wales,’ atop the photo of her beaming and holding a bunch of flowers.

The royal mother-of-three, who was born in Reading on January 9, 1982, is celebrating her birthday today after enduring an ‘annus horribilis’ in 2024.

Shortly after marking her 42nd birthday, Kensington Palace announced the Princess of Wales had been taken to hospital for abdominal surgery and was to pause public facing duties while she recovered.

However, her time out of the spotlight fuelled wild speculation about her health and in March 2024, the Princess released an extraordinarily candid clip in which she announced to the world that doctors determined ‘cancer had been present’ in her body after carrying out tests.

The news sent the nation, and indeed the world, into a state of shock as Kate revealed she’d be undergoing chemotherapy treatment and was taking time out of public duties indefinitely as she prioritised her recovery.

Meanwhile, King Charles, who shares a close bond with his ‘beloved daughter-in-law’, announced his own cancer diagnosis in February. He, too, had undertaken limited public engagements throughout the year as his treatment was ongoing.

Their shared health struggles have only ‘cemented’ that special relationship, one well-placed source told The Telegraph recently.

In recent times, Charles and Kate’s close bond has regularly been proven, including at Trooping the Colour this summer, when the Princess made her triumphant return to public life by joining the Royal Family for the King’s Birthday Parade in London.

In a departure from last year, when King Charles stood next to his heir Prince William, this time around, he stood next to Kate.

Recently, a royal expert claimed that Charles has ‘always had a great respect for Kate’ and would ‘compare notes’ with her on their hospital’s food during their ‘affectionate’ meetings about their respective cancer treatments.

This was significant, according to body language expert Judi James, as she explained to Femail at the time: ‘Charles made Kate his centre of attention to signal both how much she is cherished and how grateful he was at her attendance.’

‘Charles has always had an increasingly special relationship with Kate, who he has grown to trust and delight in.

Exemplifying this bond, the pair both received treatment at the London Clinic in Harley Street earlier this year and would ‘compare notes’ on the hospital’s food during their ‘affectionate’ meetings. 

Appearing in the Channel 5 documentary Kate: A Queen for the Future, the Daily Mail’s editor-at-large Richard Kay discussed Charles and Kate’s meetings during their time as patients in the hospital.

Richard explained: ‘The King actually made a point of going to see Kate and there’s this rather touching story of [Charles] in his dressing gown padding down to his daughter-in-law’s floor.

‘They compared notes about the rather good hospital food, how their treatment was going. It was a moment of great affection.’

Meanwhile, Prince William reduced his public engagements as he put family life and his wife’s recovery front and centre – and while his father King Charles also received cancer treatment. 

Nonetheless, the Prince of Wales still honoured some public duties, and revealed glimpses of the extremely difficult year the family had endured. 

Speaking in Cape Town, South Africa, on a visit in November for his Earthshot Awards, William, 42, said 2024 had been ‘the hardest year of my life’. 

Thankfully, after months out of the spotlight as she continued treatment, the Princess announced in September, in another extremely emotive clip, that her chemotherapy had come to an end and her focus was now on remaining ‘cancer-free’.

She announced she would be dipping her toes back into public life while ensuring her recovery was still her main focus. 

And as she resumed some public facing duties, the Princess showed royal fans the causes that she perhaps cherishes the most.

One of Kate’s first engagements was a meeting with the late Liz Hatton, an aspiring photographer with a rare form of cancer who wanted to photograph an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle as part of her ‘bucket list’. 

The nation’s hearts were warmed by a photo of the Princess and Liz sharing a warm hug in the royal residence – knowing that it was an embrace that meant everything to both of them. 

Tragically, Liz passed away on November 27, days before her family had planned an early Christmas celebration with her. 

Following Liz’s death the Prince and Princess of Wales issued a statement praising her as a ‘brave and humble young woman’. 

Other engagements carried out by Kate included a visit to Southport in September, where tragedy had struck just months earlier when three young girls, Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, had been stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift dance party.

Appearing alongside Prince William, Kate met with community leaders as the area tried to rebuild following the horrific incident. Privately, she also met with families of the children who had been affected.

Perhaps Kate’s most prominent return to the spotlight was her Together at Christmas carol service, an event she hosts every year and which she holds extremely close to her heart.

Kate bravely hosted crowds with a beaming smile on her face after an incredibly difficult year in which she has completed preventative chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

The broadcast of Kate’s service featured a special festive message from the royal in which she spoke about the importance of love and empathy.

The Princess of Wales said: ‘The love that we show ourselves and the love we show others. Love that listens with empathy, love that is kind and understanding, love that is forgiving, and love that brings joy and hope.

‘It is love which is the greatest gift we can receive, not just at Christmas but every day of our lives.’