The UK’s Prince William returned to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife’s cancer diagnosis.
William visited a surplus food redistribution center 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 King Charles III 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 Feb. 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 hospitalized in late January for unspecified abdominal surgery.
