The Princess of Wales opened up about the “life changing” long term effects of her cancer treatment today as she chatted to cancer patients and staff at the Colchester Hospital in Essex

The Princess of Wales has spoken of the pressure of putting on a “brave face” through cancer treatment and recovery, where “everybody expects you to be better, but that’s not the case at all”. The Princess, who is continuing her return to public life while in remission from cancer, said there was an expectation that patients “crack on, get back to normal”.

But, she said, the “very scary, very daunting experience” did not end with the conclusion of treatment, with patients needing to take time to find their “new normal”. The deeply personal words from the princess came as she met fellow patients at a cancer wellbeing centre at Colchester Hospital, helping to plant roses in a garden designed to help visitors find peace.

The Princess of Wales on a visit to Colchester Hospital today ( 
Image:
PA)

The Princess is in remission from cancer, gradually returning to work and recently cancelled an appearance at Royal Ascot. Describing a cancer diagnosis as “life changing” and the treatment and recovery a “rollercoaster”, the princess spoke of the importance of a holistic “mind, body and spirit” approach.

She repeatedly emphasised the importance of patients and their families being able to find support through their illness, saying it was too often difficult to reach. Speaking to patients and volunteers inside the centre, she said: “There is a whole phase when you finish your treatment, everybody expects you to be better – go! But that’s not the case at all.”

She said: “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like ’I can crack on, get back to normal’ but actually the phase afterwards is really difficult. You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to.

“And actually someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment I think is really valuable.” She added: “You have to find your new normal and that takes time.” The centre provides therapy, community groups and holistic treatments including reflexology.

Kate chats about her experiences to patients and staff ( 
Image:
Toby Shepheard / Kensington Palace)
The Princess, speaking to therapist Amanda Green during a walkabout in heavy rain afterwards, disclosed that she had not yet tried reflexology but had acupuncture as part of her own health journey. The discussions were the princess’s most personal and extensive insight into her own experience to date, seeing her reference her own ill health several times while emphasising with patients and families.

“It’s life changing for anyone,” she said. “Through first diagnosis or post treatment and things like that, it is life-changing experience both for the patient but also for the families as well. And actually it sometimes goes unrecognised, you don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time [of diagnosis], appreciate how much impact it is going to have.

“You have to find your new normal and that takes time…and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not one smooth plane, which you expect it to be. But the reality is it’s not, you go through hard times.

“And to have a place like this to have the support network, through creativity and singing or gardening whatever it might be is so valuable and it’s great this community has it. It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.”

Kate references her own ill health during the visit ( 
Image:
Toby Shepheard / Kensington Palace)
Speaking to patients, including those whose cancer has returned and one who had lost his husband to cancer, the princess asked how the centre had helped them.

“That first time diagnosis is a very scary journey,” she said, referring to the benefits of having an on-site hospital support network where many volunteers have had cancer themselves and survived. Many newly-diagnosed patients at Colchester Hospital now visit the centre immediately for counselling and advice.

“To feel a sense of hope and positivity [from speaking to people who have already been through it] is such a positive thing in what is otherwise a very scary and daunting experience,” the Princess said.

She added that “science has told us that the mind, body and spirit experience is so important,” asking if the clinical team at the hospital had given any feedback about how the wellness centre had affected patients.

After around an hour at the centre, the Princess moved into the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital where she helped plant roses named after her.

Kate plants a ‘Catherine’s rose’ in the Wellbeing Garden ( 
Image:
PA)Getting her hands dirty and asking if she could do a bit more work, the Princess dug alongside television garden designer Adam Frost and told him she was feeling “good” and was pleased to be able to work outside.

In the pouring rain, as the engagement overran by about half an hour, she told hospital staff and patients who had waited outside to see her: “I’m just washing my hands – I’ll be back”. She then undertook a walkabout, posing for selfies and group photographs in between asking people about their day.

Kensington Palace said the was there to “celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing”.

Kate with award-winning garden designer Adam Frost ( 
Image:
Toby Shepheard / Kensington Palace)
Kate’s appearance today marks her first public outing since she pulled out of Royal Ascot last month as she seeks the right balance following her treatment for cancer. Since announcing in January she is in remission, the princess has been gradually returning to public duties.

The princess’s visit today also coincides with the donation of 50 ‘Catherine Roses’ to the garden. The rose, named after the princess, is being sold by the RHS with funds from sale of them going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Kate was treated at the Royal Marsden following her cancer diagnosis last year.

In addition, 500 ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants will be donated to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie’s gardens for people affected by cancer, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and Horatio’s Gardens for those living with spinal injuries.

The princess has long advocated the benefits of spending time in the natural world, previously revealing how nature became her family’s ‘sanctuary’ in the wake of her cancer diagnosis and during her chemotherapy treatment.

She also opened up last month in a personal insight into what nature means to her on a trip to the Lake District with the Scouts earlier this year, admitting: “I find it a very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection, I suppose, these environments.

“Not everyone has that same relationship perhaps with nature, but it is so, therefore meaningful for me as a place to balance and find a sort of sense of peace and reconnection in what is otherwise a very busy world.”