‘When I first had George, I tried to knit him a special jumper but I got halfway down and it splattered!’
As she battles back to recovery, Kate has said she will focus on spending time with her children and on “things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits”.
With chemotherapy known to leave people tired and drained, Kate may have less energy to pursue one of her greatest passions – sport – but may occupy herself with some of her more sedate hobbies, such as beekeeping, gardening, cooking, colouring books and music.
She may even pick up her needles and yarn for another attempt at something she struggled with in the past: knitting.
Previously she has spoken of how physical activity boosts her mental health.
At school then university, the princess played hockey and tennis but has also dabbled in sailing, rowing and cold-water swimming.
As well as enjoying running and CrossFit, she is also a qualified scuba diver.
Celebrating the launch of an anxiety toolkit last year, she said sport could help lower stress, adding: “So much in sport is mental as well as the physical skills and abilities, to have these sort of skills and these sorts of things in your toolbox will really help.”
If cancer treatment leaves her feeling too exhausted for sports, Kate may choose to spend more time in the garden. Like her father-in-law, King Charles, the princess is a keen horticulturalist. In 2019 she designed a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show with “families and childhood at the heart” – featuring a treehouse and a stream for Pooh-sticks.
In 2021, the 42-year-old revealed that she had even begun keeping bees and making her own honey.
Despite royal duties, Kate enjoys spending time in kitchen cooking Prince William’s favourite roast chicken dinner. Perhaps now the prince might decide to cook for his wife, including her favourites: spicy curry or teriyaki salmon.
She may reach for a colouring book – William recently revealed she is a fan – or perhaps her knitting. On a visit to Glasgow a few years ago, she told a crochet group: ‘I tried knitting when I first had George. I tried to knit him a very special jumper but I got halfway down and it splattered!”
Another cherished pastime is music. Kate is a capable pianist who reached grade 3 at school, but stunned guests at a Christmas carol concert in 2021 with her first public piano performance as a royal. Princess Charlotte is also learning to play.
And despite the recent row about her doctored family snap, the princess remains a keen photographer.
With the spectre of cancer hanging over her, she is sure to want to document the precious moments spent with all three of her beloved children: George, Charlotte and Louis.