King Charles Honors Kate Middleton After Cancer Diagnosis

Princess Kate has been given a prestigious new honor by King Charles III as she continues her chemotherapy for cancer.

The monarch also gave new honors to Prince William and Queen Camilla in an announcement made on the day his grandson, Prince Louis, turned 6 years old.

Kate joins such luminaries as Winston Churchill, David Attenborough, Stephen Hawking and Anna Wintour in The Order of the Companions of Honour as its first-ever Royal Companion.

A Kensington Palace announcement read: “His Majesty The King has been graciously pleased to appoint Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, GCVO, to be Royal Companion of The Order of the Companions of Honour. This is a new appointment.

“The Order of the Companions of Honour was founded by King George V in 1917 to recognise outstanding achievements in the Arts, Sciences, Medicine and Public Service. The appointments are effective from today—Tuesday, 23rd April 2024.”

Prince William was made a Great Master of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath while Queen Camilla became a Grand Master and First or Principal Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Most honors given out in Britain each year are selected by the government of the day through the new year and birthday honors list.

However, a select few fall to the king himself to appoint and it is these specific honors that have been given to William, Kate and Camilla.

It comes during a difficult time for the royal family, with Charles and Kate both diagnosed with cancer.

The princess has stepped back from public life entirely while the king has substantially reduced his workload, canceling all but a handful of royal events.

Most of his duties since his difficult health news in February have been meetings at Buckingham Palace, though he led the royal family into church in Windsor at Easter.

Prince William also took some time out of work after Kate had abdominal surgery in January while the spotlight has increasingly fallen on Camilla as the most—if not only—top-ranking royal still working.

However, William has been back doing royal jobs more recently, including a visit last week to highlight the work of Surplus to Supper, a charity that redistributes food that would otherwise go in the bin.

The new honors may be a welcome boost for three royal family members who have all been feeling the strain in one form or another during an unprecedented few months of royal health worries.

Kate and William were also rocked by wild speculation on social media after the princess was out of the public eye focusing on her recovery, with a viral trend on X suggesting she was “missing.”

As gossip and rumor became increasingly grotesque, Kate was bounced into a full announcement of her cancer treatment on March 22.

“It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family,” Kate said during an emotional video, “but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous.

“The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, 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 ok.

“As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.”

Jack Royston is Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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