UK’s Prince William returns to public duties for first time since Kate’s cancer diagnosis

William is set to visit a surplus food redistribution centre and a youth club it serves, highlighting efforts to reduce food waste as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and feed people in need

Prince William. Photo: Reuters file

London, April 18

Prince William returns to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife’s cancer diagnosis, bolstering the royal family’s ranks as health problems continue to sideline the princess and King Charles III.

William is set to visit a surplus food redistribution centre and a youth club it serves, highlighting efforts to reduce food waste as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and feed people in need. The prince stepped away from public duties after Kate, the Princess of Wales, announced on March 22 that she was undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.

In a video message released that day, Kate asked for “time, space and privacy” as she and her family adjusted to her diagnosis.

“I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she said at the time.

“It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be okay,” she added.

Both Charles and Kate have been largely absent from the public stage since January due to health problems, leaving Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and other members of the royal family to pick up the slack on the whirl of events and awards ceremonies that dominate the work of Britain’s monarchy.

Charles announced on February 5 that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer following treatment for an enlarged prostate two weeks earlier. Kate’s diagnosis came after she was hospitalised in late January for unspecified abdominal surgery.

William is set to visit a surplus food distribution charity — Surplus to Supper — in Surrey, southwest of London, where he will lend a hand in the kitchen and help load prepared meals into delivery vans. He will then travel to a youth centre in west London that benefits from the food deliveries.