Oh, this was not announced ahead of time! The Princess of Wales made a surprise trip to Manchester today to visit the Christie NHS Foundation Trust. Ol’ girl disappeared off the face of the earth for nearly three full weeks, popped up last minute at a Tuesday reception at St. James’s Palace, and now she’s visiting with cancer patients? You know this is King Charles’ work. He has basically ordered her to do these events because he’s sick of everyone infantilizing her and her asinine busywork. During Kate’s visit, she spoke to a cancer patient about how cancer is tough on the family:
On June 4, Princess Kate spent the second day this week supporting the work of cancer organizations as she visited the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. The wasn’t a dry eye in the room when the Princess of Wales watched a patient ring the bell to signal the end of her chemotherapy treatments—and along with comforting 30-year-old Claire Lorente, Kate told Claire’s husband that his role was “just as hard.”
The Princess of Wales, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in 2024, met with patients at The Christie, including Claire, who was getting ready to ring her bell. In a video shared on X by the Sun’s royal editor, Matt Wilkinson, Kate hugged a tearful Claire, rubbing her arm as she heard more about the woman’s cancer journey.
“Well done!” Kate said to Lorente’s tearful husband, hugging him and saying, “I know. It’s just as hard for family.”
The princess then shared how tough it was for her family, including her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, when she was sick, telling Claire’s husband how she understood that he went “through it.”
After meeting Claire’s baby, Kate exclaimed, “Isn’t Mummy brave?” before watching Claire and her husband ring the bell together.
I’ll include the video below, you can’t really hear what she’s saying, but it’s a nice gesture and it’s a big deal to ring the bell and to be allowed to be part of that moment. I hope Claire was okay with Kate being there, I guess.
Fashion notes – Kate repeated a Eponine London coatdress which she wore in 2021, to the COP26 conference. I remember it well because Kate’s behavior was really outlandish at the time. Kate also wore a lapis lazuli necklace from Astley Clarke.
The Princess of Wales shares an emotional moment with Claire Lorente, 30, who rings the bell to signal the end of her cancer treatment, at The Christie centre in Manchester pic.twitter.com/Ycc3DaYWmB
— Matt Wilkinson (@MattSunRoyal) June 4, 2026
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Manchester, United Kingdom When: 04 Jun 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Manchester, United Kingdom When: 04 Jun 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Manchester, United Kingdom When: 04 Jun 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Manchester, United Kingdom When: 04 Jun 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Manchester, United Kingdom When: 04 Jun 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I think it was a nice gesture and it seems to me like the couple appreciated it.
Kate should be doing more of these kind of engagements. Her dress would look better if it was shorter.
Fully agree. She would be so much happier, I think, if she actually did these kinds of things – she’d have something to focus on other than whatever is going on in her marriage, and have an actual body of work and a real relationship with the public. It would be actually as close to Diana as she can get, as opposed to just dressing like her.
She will never be anywhere near Diana as far as accomplishments and personality. Also, Diana would be appalled at how Keen behaved towards Meghan. IMO. Kate had years to step up and do more work. Keen is not in the same league as Diana nor the same stratosphere.
She will never be anywhere near Diana as far as accomplishments and personality. Also, Diana would be appalled at how Keen behaved towards Meghan. IMO. Kate had years to step up and do more work. Keen is not in the same league as Diana nor the same stratosphere. There was only one Diana.
Yes, she should do more of this. Although she’s a bit awkward, she was trying to convey meaningful connection and the couple seemed genuinely moved by her presence and conversation. The blue dress is sooo much better than what she wore yesterday. The color suits her and the cut and style other than the shoulder pads are softer and also more professional.
I don’t know, it looks more like a performance for Lilli’s birthday. They always do it, so why should this year be any different?
I also see practicing her greetings and hugs in front of the mirror a lot Meghan. Well, Kate’s learning from the best :)))
Yeah, I don’t know if I think that Charles made Kate do this visit. Last night’s yes but today’s idk. Can see the bday thing.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
She’s out because of Lili’s birthday … but this is the “work” she should be doing.
Hoping virus levels are lower now in the early English summer, because to be in a cancer hospital with nary a mask to be seen is… not considerate. We should all be shocked by the lack of respiratory protection provided by healthcare professionals to highly vulnerable patients.
Why does she make faces like she’s in the front car of a roller coaster?
living in Belgium, been through chemo and radiation in the last year, nowhere were masks mandatory. Only asked to wear them during the flu season. Staff were also mask free.
The bell ringing is a super idea – really drawing a line under a very stressful period for patients and their families. Wish I’d had one, would have been awesome!!
This visit was absolutely planned for Lili’s bday.
But in itself its a nice visit. Ringing the bell is a BFD and i’m happy for that patient.
These are the kinds of visits Kate should and can do more of. nothing is stopping her except her own laziness.
This also fits the pattern of her doing a few engagements back to back after many weeks off and then disappearing again, likely until Wimbledon.
But yes they knew it was Lili’s birthday.
She’s nothing more than a hanger with hair at this point.
She couldn’t have worn a brooch or something?
Yikes! She is so thin, but with huge, wide feet. She looks like Minnie Mouse at this point. She needs a stylist to help her hide her dwindling frame and the way her feet hang out of her ill-fitting shoes.
Yes, this dress is very unflattering and looks like it was just thrown on. I wish to hell she’d just cut her hair a bit; these days it just looks like an unmade bed.
I thought your unmade bed comment was about the dress then I re-read it! Probably because I was thinking it looked like fabric that had been loosely folded and pinned and that was it.
I wish someone would take Kate by the hand and counsel her about the way she looks . I am no fan of this woman , and that’s me being polite about her but the way that dress hangs on her and her neck and it was visibly noticeable also yesterday in the red dress, I really believe she is in desperate need of help . This is not healthy
Kate may be a racist mean girl, but someone should help her–her mother, her father, her sister, her brother, or her doctor. It looks like anorexia but I suppose it could be another ED. She looks thinner than Karen Carpenter was when she died. If the Firm imagines that the death of another Princess of Wales is not going to damage them….
“I’m not a fan but”, you are a fan.
Waity , the colonizer, deserves the same treatment given to the Duchess.
Tiny, I know we cannot all have the compassion of a Meghan Sussex or Nelson Mandela, but no one deserves the treatment given to the Duchess. And remember that Meghan goes home to her kind, smart, funny, and loving Harry each night; Waity is married to the violent, angry, boring, and lazy other brother–which sounds like hell to me.
What is that Itsy Bitsy Spider thing she always does with her hands?
Obviously someone took notice of all the talk online about her “cancer ” and how she hasn’t done anything about it and she (and her team) tries to make people remember that she’s also a “cancer” patient who recovers..2 events in a week, while she hasn’t done anything regarding cancer for long? Yeah, definitely a PR effort. There’s definitely a shift in their PR, trying to share intimate details of their life (see William’s interview) ortheir “love” for each other and being more demonstrative in their “hugs”. I’m happy for the patient, it is a great moment for her and her family!
Keen needs to do something with her hair. And get a good trim.
Funny that she’s making all these cancer appearances after Mike Tindall’s comments. I think I have a theory as to what happened to Kate and it doesn’t involve cancer ( it involves her husband).
Interesting how she went back to these coat dresses since natasha left her, no more dressin up as Meghan copying her style
The dress is swimming on her – literally pulling in places bc the weight of the fabric is not being held up by fitting her body. It’s deeply concerning. She looks worse than she while having cancer and being treated after it was removed. The engagement is fine; the timing is suspect.
If anyone wants to see what the dress used to look like on her then look for the photos where she’s making weird faces with Jason Knauf with a glass that has a worm in it.
It’s a stark difference.
The visit seems to have gone well. Her interactions with Claire and her family seem more natural than her usual. I’m going to say that it was nice that Kate showed up on the day that Claire was celebrating the end of chemo.
@beautifully broken
Waity, the colonizer, who let a lie fester and questions skin colors, DESERVES the treatment given to The DucHess.
I said what I said.