Royal news live: Kate Middleton has first work engagement after cancer treatment as Harry to return to UK
The Princess of Wales has completed her first work engagement of the year
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The Princess of Wales has undertaken her first work engagement since completing chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Kate, 42, attended a meeting with her Early Years task force at Windsor Castle yesterday afternoon, marking her third appearance on the Court Circular of the year and her first work engagement.
It read: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle.”
According to reports, the meeting likely concerned the Shaping Us campaign that aims to raise the profile of the importance of early childhood development and the impact it can have later in life.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex is set to return to the UK later this month as part of his charity work with WellChild, which supports seriously ill British children and young people.
The charity is hosting its annual awards on 30 September, and Harry, who turned 40 on Sunday, will attend the event in London in his capacity as patron.
It is not known if he will be accompanied by his wife Meghan Markle.
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Prince Harry to return to UK later this month
The Duke of Sussex will return to the UK at the end of September in his capacity as patron of the charity WellChild.
Harry, 40, will attend the charity’s awards in London on 30 September. WellChild provides support to seriously ill children and young people in the UK.
It is not known whether the duke will be accompanied by his wife Meghan Markle.
Princess of Wales returns to work after cancer treatment
The Princess of Wales has appeared on the royal rota for the first time since completing chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Kate, 42, attended a meeting at Windsor Castle yesterday (17 September) with her task force that supports early childhood development.
Yesterday’s Court Circular read: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle.”
The meeting likely concerned the Shaping Us campaign that aims to raise the profile of the importance of early childhood development and the impact it can have later in life.
This marks the princess’s third royal engagement of the year and her first work engagement.
King Charles has ‘ambition’ to reconcile with Prince Harry
King Charles is said to have an “ambition” to welcome Prince Harry back into the royal fold and reconcile.
The monarch last saw his youngest son for a reported 45 minutes in February following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis.
A family friend told The Daily Beast: “The King has made it very clear that he loves Harry and wants to be part of his and his family’s life.
“Publicly wishing him a happy 40th birthday is completely of a piece with that ambition.”
🎂 Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today! pic.twitter.com/sAlSiV9EaZ
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 15, 2024
Kate and William’s birthday message to Harry ‘not sent personally'
An insider has claimed that the Prince and Princess of Wales’s birthday message to Prince Harry was not sent personally by the couple.
They told The Daily Beast that if the message had been sent by the future king and queen, it would have been signed “W & C” as many of their other posts are.
“It was just a company thing,” the insider said. “Happy birthday blah blah blah.”
The source added: “It makes sense for Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace to align themselves on a little bit of essentially routine messaging around Harry.
“It shows William is willing to respect his father’s seniority and do what is asked of him.”
Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex! https://t.co/ZKJbYDmV6L
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 15, 2024
Prince William has ‘no interest’ in reaching out to Harry
Prince William is said to have “no interest” in reconnecting with Prince Harry, despite wishing him a happy 40th birthday on the official Kensington Palace channel.
A friend told The Daily Beast: “The honest truth is that William has no interest right now in reaching out to Harry and Meghan.
“He regards what Harry said in his book [Spare] as unforgivable and, understandably given Catherine’s cancer diagnosis, just wants to focus on his wife and family first and his job second. There isn’t space for a complicated reconciliation process with Harry. It’s not a priority.”
Harry and William ‘weren’t close’ before Diana’s death
A royal expert has claimed that Prince Harry and Prince William were not close prior to their mother Princess Diana’s untimely death in 1997.
Biographer Ingrid Seward told The Sun: “I remember after William went on his gap year, way back on operation Raleigh, Harry said ‘he’s much nicer now’, so this myth that Harry and William were very close, is a myth.
“They were only really close after their mother died. Of course, they unified and they were the only two people that knew what it felt like. But they weren’t very close as youngsters.”
But while the brothers are said to have once been close, their relationship now appears to be worse than ever and they are reported to have kept their distance when they recently attended their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes’s funeral.
Harry and Meghan’s California neighbours ‘fed up’ with couple
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s neighbours in Montecito have said that they are “fed up” with the couple and “can’t wait” for them to leave.
An anonymous neighbour said they “cannot wait for her [Meghan Markle] to go”, in particular, The Express reports.
Meanwhile, Frank McGinity, a veteran, said that he was “turned away” from the gates of their mansion when he tried to help the couple settle into the area by sharing some local history films.
He told the Montecito Journal: “We don’t see them very much around here.”
King Charles ‘ordered’ Kate and William to make appearance with Prince Andrew
King Charles is said to have ordered the Prince and Princess of Wales to make a public appearance with Prince Andrew.
The couple appeared with the disgraced Duke of York while attending a church service in Scotland during the royal family’s summer holiday to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire.
This came following Andrew’s almost complete banishment from public life after he was forced to step down as a working royal because of his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
A source told The Mirror: “The King feels he has an awful lot on his in-tray and this is one issue he wants to draw a line under.”
Prince William reportedly had “absolutely no desire” to be seen with his uncle according to an insider, but “[it] appears he may have had his wings clipped somewhat.”
William and Kate ‘quietly’ help troubled London foodbank
The Princess and Princess of Wales have made a generous donation to a London foodbank that was recently the victim of a robbery.
News of the gesture was shared by the charity Pecan on Twitter/X, who explained that thousands of pounds worth of goods and a laptop had been stolen from Southwark Food Bank’s warehouse on 8 September.
“A huge thank you to @Kensingtonroyal who have donated to the recovery effort following the theft of £3k of food supplies from @southwarkfoodbk,” the Christian charity wrote.
“All at @Pecan121a have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from across society. Food stocks are being replenished now.”
A huge thank you to @Kensingtonroyal who have donated to the recovery effort following the theft of £3k of food supplies from @southwarkfoodbk. All at @Pecan121a have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from across society. Food stocks are being replenished now ❤️
— Pecan (@Pecan121a) September 13, 2024
Prince Philip could have met ‘an alien called Janus in a Chelsea flat'
The maker of a new documentary that explores the royal family’s alleged interest in extraterrestrial life has claimed that Prince Philip could have met “an alien called Janusy in a Chelsea flat”.
Ahead of the release of The King of UFOs, which is set to air on Amazon on 20 September, director Mark Christopher Lee said the late Duke of Edinburgh was invited to the meeting because he was “a man of great vision”.
The 1954 meeting is reported to have been organised by the late royal’s aide Sir Peter Horsley.
Mr Lee told the Metro: “Horsley wanted Phillip to meet with this Janus as Janus had a message to give him that the world needed saving as Philip was a man of great vision.
“Philip didn’t go to the meeting – and it’s most likely that Janus could have been a Russian spy – but Horsley stuck to his belief that Janus was not of this world.’
The director admitted in the documentary: “It could have happened. It’s a very, very strange encounter.”
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