UK’s Princess Kate: Nature has been my sanctuary during cancer treatment

FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Prince William, and Kate, the Princess of Wales also known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, visit DAY1, a Highland-based charity in Inverness, Scotland, Britain November 2, 2023. Paul Campbell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

LONDON — Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, said nature had been her sanctuary over the last year in which she underwent preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

In a video posted on X, which featured footage of her and her husband, heir to the throne Prince William, as well as images of the British landscape, Kate spoke of the importance to her of the natural world.

“Over the past year, nature has been my sanctuary,” she said on the video released to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, a major campaign issue for the couple. “The natural world’s capacity to inspire us, to nurture us and help us heal and grow is boundless and has been understood for generations.”

READ: UK royal Kate having chemotherapy after ‘huge shock’ of cancer discovery

It was almost a year ago when Kate, 43, made the dramatic announcement that she would undergo a course of chemotherapy after tests taken following major abdominal surgery in January last year revealed that an unspecified form of cancer had been present.

She completed the course of treatment in September, and said earlier this year she was now in remission.

Last month, Kate and William visited a picturesque Scottish island to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary, with footage of that visit featuring in her video.

READ: Princess Kate completes chemotherapy, to return to limited public duties

“Spring is a season of rebirth, of hope and new beginnings from the dark days of winter, the outside world quietly awakens with new life, and there comes a sense of optimism, anticipation and positive, hopeful change,” she said.

“Just as nature revives and renews, so too can we. Let us reconnect nature and celebrate a new dawn within our hearts.”