Princess Kate has received a “statement of confidence” from King Charles after stepping back from royal duties while receiving treatment for cancer.
The King was “graciously pleased” to appoint his daughter-in-law as a Royal Companion of The Order of the Companions of Honour this week.
This honour, founded in 1917 by King George V, recognises outstanding achievements in the Arts, Sciences, Medicine and Public Service.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has spoken about how the appointment shows the King’s “confidence” in the princess and her work.
The King appointed Kate as Royal Companion of The Order of the Companions of Honour
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The honour is historically significant as the princess is the first member of the Royal Family to hold the title, confirmed by the Prince and Princess of Wales’s press office in a call to TIME.
When asked if the appointment shows the special relationship between Charles and his daughter-in-law, Fitzwilliams replied: “Absolutely, it’s a statement of confidence.”
Fitzwilliams went on to list the princess’s links with the arts, explaining: “Remember she has links with the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery.
“There’s the artistic interest and there’s also her project on early childhood which is very important.”
King Charles and Princess Kate are both receiving cancer treatment
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Princess Kate has spent much of the past decade looking into how experiences in early childhood are often the root of today’s hardest social challenges including addiction, family breakdown, poor mental health, suicide and homelessness.
In 2023, Kate also opened the newly transformed young V&A museum which is dedicated to children aged 0 to 14.
The princess became the first royal patron of the V&A Museum in 2018; Kate got her degree in art history while studying at St. Andrews.
The King has always been close with his “beloved” daughter-in-law, but following the announcement of the princess’s cancer diagnosis, a source said that Charles is willing to do “anything he can do” to support her.
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Robert Hardman, a royal author, said: “It’s very clear that he [King Charles] is extremely concerned about her [Kate].
“I think he wants to make sure as much as he can that if there’s anything he can do, he will do, because for a very fit and healthy young mother, this is a different order of magnitude to someone having to deal with this in their 70s.”
It was also reported that the King visited Princess Kate in hospital while recovered from an abdominal surgery.
The princess has stepped back from her public-facing duties as she continues preventative chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer.
