Prince William Says Kate Middleton Will 'Hopefully' Join Him on Royal Trips Next Year amid Cancer Recovery

After a 'brutal' 2024, the Prince of Wales is looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, including having "some more trips maybe lined up" with his wife

• Prince William says that Kate Middleton will “hopefully” join him on royal trips in 2025 after she announced on Sept. 9 she had completed chemotherapy

• Of his royal work, the Prince of Wales said “I’m trying to do it differently”

• He added that both he and the Princess of Wales were interested in bringing “empathetic leadership” to the global stage

Prince William is hopeful that his wife Kate Middleton will be by his side as he takes royal trips in 2025. 

As his schedule is being planned for the coming year, William, 42, is looking ahead to what might be possible for them. On Sept. 9, following around six months of cancer treatment, Kate, 42, announced in an intimate family video that she had completed chemotherapy. 

The prince — who has just completed a busy week in Cape Town, South Africa — said, “Hopefully Catherine will be doing a bit more next year, so we’ll have some more trips maybe lined up.”

Kate appeared alongside William and King Charles at the Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 9, and there is every expectation that she’ll also be at the ceremony at The Cenotaph in London, where respects are paid to Britain’s war dead, on Nov. 10 for Remembrance Sunday.  

One visit that appears to be on the cards for William is to South America next fall. He will be at next year's UN Climate Change Conference, following in the footsteps of his father, King Charles, in taking part in the conference.

With or without Princess Kate, when Prince William does step out next year, he’ll do so in his own manner, he vowed.

Related: Will Prince William’s Earthshot Prize Awards Head to South America Next?

“I’m trying to do it differently, and I’m trying to do it for my generation,” William said while in Cape Town. “I’m doing it with maybe a smaller 'r' in the royal, if you like. It’s more about impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people.”

“I’m also going to throw empathy in there as well, because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people's lives. I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world,” he added.

Related: Prince William and Heidi Klum Have Barbecue by the Sea on Final Day of South Africa Visit

“So that’s what I’m trying to bring, what Catherine is trying to bring as well,” the Prince of Wales said.

After what William said has been a "brutal" year as both his wife and father faced cancer, there was a lightness to his step, as if the pressure of those serious illnesses has lifted somewhat.

That casualness, epitomized by the vintage Prince of Wales check jacket and funky eco-friendly trainers from Purified, that he no doubt hoped would resonate with the Gen Z audience he and his environmental mission The Earthshot Prize hopes to attract.

Related: Prince William Breaks Silence on 'Brutal' 2024 amid Kate Middleton and King Charles' Cancer Diagnoses: 'Hardest Year in My Life'

As Prince William spent four days in Cape Town, a permanent reminder of home came in the delicate form of a friendship bracelet with the word "Papa" on it, made for him by his daughter Princess Charlotte.

“She gave it to me when I came away. So I promised that I'd wear it and try not to lose while I was out here," he said in another interview while in South Africa last week.

Speaking as his week promoting his Earthshot Prize Awards came to an end — and after his documentary highlighting the first year of his Homewards project to help the unhoused aired — “who knows what’s going to come next," William said. "It all centers around those values of trying to help deliver change for and make those lives better.”

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One day his children Prince George, 11,, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, will join him and Kate in more public duties. That’s for the future, though.

“Obviously, they’re at school, and I think that’s takes priority over everything else,” Prince William said of his three children.