Princess Catherine of Wales turned 43 on Thursday, with her husband Prince William praising her “strength” in battling cancer last year.
Kate, as she is widely known, revealed last March that she had been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.
The announcement came weeks after his father-in-law, Britain’s head of state King Charles III, revealed that he was also being treated for cancer.
Both withdrew from public life for months in 2024 but have since returned to royal duties on a more limited scale for Kate.
Charles, 76, is reportedly continuing his treatment, while Kate said in September that she had completed a course of chemotherapy but that her “road to recovery and full recovery is a long one”.
Kensington Palace has not said where the princess will begin her 44th year.
She usually spends it in Norfolk, eastern England, with her children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis – and her husband, who is heir to the throne.
Posting a photo of a smiling Kate on social media on Thursday, William addressed her birthday message to “the most incredible wife and mother.”
He wrote, “The strength you have shown over the past year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis, and I are so proud of you. Happy birthday, Katherine. We love you.”
Charles’s Buckingham Palace X account also posted “Happy Birthday to the Princess of Wales” and shared a photo of Kate smiling.
She and William are set to make more appearances together in 2025 as they eye a return to normality, with William suggesting that an overseas trip could also be on the way.
The princess has not taken part in any official overseas trips since attending the Rugby World Cup in France in October 2023.
She resumed royal duties for the first time in October, visiting Southport in north-west England to meet people affected by a knife attack three months earlier that killed three young girls.
In November, she attended two events on two consecutive days commemorating Britons killed in the World Wars and other conflicts, before also attending the state visit of the Emir of Qatar to Britain in December.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
