What you need to know
Duchess Kate and Prince William are planning a special occasion to celebrate her birthday soon.
The Princess of Wales will celebrate her 44th birthday on Friday, January 9th. Duchess Kate and Prince William usually celebrate their birthdays privately with their three children, Prince George (12), Princess Charlotte (10), and Prince Louis (7). Last year, people discovered that Duchess Kate was spending her birthday at home with Prince William and his children while the children were out of school.
To mark Duchess Kate’s 43rd birthday in January 2024, Prince William shared a particularly personal message on social media.
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“To the most amazing wife and mother, the strength you have shown over the past year has been amazing,” Prince William wrote under a never-before-seen photo taken by Matt Porteous in Windsor the previous summer.
“George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W,” he wrote.
William’s words of support alluded to his wife’s cancer treatment. In March 2024, the Princess of Wales announced that she was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer and had cut back on her royal duties to focus on her health.
Duchess Kate said she had finished chemotherapy in September 2025, and announced on January 14, 2025 that she was in remission after visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital where she was treated.
The Princess of Wales spoke candidly about her difficult road to recovery during a visit to Colchester Hospital in the summer, describing the post-cancer phase as “really, really difficult”.
“You put on a kind of brave face and have a stoic attitude throughout the treatment, and once it’s over you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m going to get back to normal,’ but actually the stages after that are really, really difficult,” Duchess Kate said at the time.
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“You don’t necessarily have to be under a clinical team anymore, but you probably can’t function as well at home as you once did,” she continued. “We have to find a new normal, and that will take time…and it will be a roller coaster and not as smooth as we hope. But the reality is that we are going to go through some difficult times.”
In the fall, Prince William and Duchess Kate also moved into their new home, Forest Lodge, in Windsor.
People understand that a new space can be a fresh start after the most difficult period for a family, and the Princess of Wales is embracing the decor.
