In her more than 14 years as a member of the royal family, the engagement was one of her most personal. Princess Kate Middleton walked through the front entrance of London’s Royal Marsden Hospital on January 14 — joking that it was “quite nice” not to have to sneak in after “so many quiet visits” in “secrecy” during her cancer treatments last year — then revealed that she is in remission as she doled out hugs and well-wishes to the patients and thanked the staff, staying longer than initially planned. And while Kate and her husband, Prince William, had just been named joint patrons of the center, a palace aide emphasized that she came to “reflect on her own personal journey,” not necessarily as part of her official duties. Kate reiterated that sentiment in a message of her own later. “As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she wrote on Instagram. “I am, however, looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to.”
And much to do. “Now that she’s back on her feet, arguably better and stronger than ever, the royals have made the strategic choice to make Kate the face of the family for the foreseeable future,” a source exclusively tells In Touch, citing King Charles III’s ailing health as well as the many scandals that have rocked the Firm in the past few months. “Charles, William and even Camilla know Kate is their last chance to save the monarchy. She’s almost universally beloved and has a lot of ideas for positive change. She’s ready to take charge.”
Princess Kate Is Managing the Royal Family’s Latest Scandal
Her shocking plan? Dial back the pomp and circumstance that have defined the royals for 1,000 years. In early January, news broke that the sovereign grant — the funding the royal family gets from taxpayers — was increasing by more than 50 percent, to $165 million in 2025, sparking widespread public outrage. “All the money comes from the government, at a time when the government is not able to properly fund schools, hospitals, police,” Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, an anti-monarchist lobbying group, told Town & Country. “It is scandalous. Not only should it not be going up at all, it should be going down.” And while the royals have argued that a lot of that cash will go to refurbishing Buckingham Palace for everyone’s benefit, “seeing the royals flaunting their wealth is a huge turnoff,” says a palace insider. Kate, 43, “wants the family to tighten their belts and be more humble.”
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And more attuned to the people they’re supposed to be serving. “She also wants the family to get out there and be hands-on and approachable,” says the insider. Kate has been leading by example, starting with the heartbreakingly frank video she posted announcing her cancer in March 2024, followed by an even more surprising glimpse of her personal life in September, announcing she was cancer-free. The video, in which she frolics in the woods with William, 42, and their children, was polarizing to a country unaccustomed to such behavior from the royals, with headlines calling it “astonishing in its intimacy” and “an audacious self-invasion of privacy.” But it was entirely sanctioned by Kate, says the source, “and she wants to do more of that kind of sharing.”
Princess Kate Is Breaking Royal Family Tradition
It’s a dramatic deviation from the inscrutable Queen Elizabeth II, who steadfastly maintained an aura of mystery around the monarchy and raised her children to do the same. “She once said, ‘They have to see me to believe me.’ But the ‘me’ was the myth while the real ‘me’ remained unseen,” Clive Irving, author of The Last Queen, wrote upon her death in 2022. “The mask of the monarch rarely slipped during the more than 70 years that she reigned.”
But it’s a new era, and Kate is removing the mask. “Her trip to the hospital was the perfect example of how she’s breaking the rules,” says the source. In candid discussions, she commiserated with patients about how exhausting chemotherapy can be, admitted she was “trying to do the best” with her kids, and confessed to struggling cognitively with the lingering effects of her treatment. “It’s amazing how open she has been about her feelings and reminding them that she’s a mom, first and foremost,” adds the source. “It’s reminiscent of how Princess Diana used to interact with people, making real, emotional connections.”
As Diana’s son, future-king William “is completely on the same page,” says the insider. Others are skeptical. Princess Anne, long lauded as the hardest-working royal, has expressed her doubts about making changes. “Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh, let’s do it a new way,’” bemoans the 74-year-old, who was part of the 1969 documentary The Royal Family, which was considered a disaster for revealing too much behind the curtain. “I’m at the stage [of], ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’”
But the “basics” means something a lot different now. “In Kate’s view, they’d all be wise to work on being more relatable,” says the insider. The younger generation is more likely to adapt, while the future queen nudges the rest of the family to fall in line. “If there’s anyone they’ll all listen to,” adds the insider, “it’s Kate.”