Here’s the thing about being hospitalized you might not realize — it becomes more or less impossible to live life on your terms. You generally can’t freely move your body, there’s probably a bunch of undesirable medications, and unless you have a friend nearby that can serve as a runner, you rely on hospital food for sustenance. Whether this was the exact case for Kate Middleton during her cancer treatments, I can’t say. As a member of the British Royal Family, her accommodations were probably better than most, but on the other hand, chemotherapy is one of the world’s most effective equalizers. Whatever the case, now that she’s begun reemerging into the public eye, one Royal expert claims that she’s determined to seize control of her life and schedule now that she’s able to. Per The Mirror, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond notes that Kate’s reappearances have been getting more and more frequent since her chemotherapy treatments ended back in September 2024, but the Princess of Wales seems determined to set her own pace and schedule as she reintegrates royal duties back into her day-to-day. In other words, after everything Middleton went through, she’s more than earned the right to navigate the always bright Royal Family spotlight however she pleases, especially if that means stepping away from it for the sake of a private family vacation. Such was the case two weekends ago when the Waleses dropped an appearance at the BAFTA Awards to go off to the Caribbean, ostensibly in hopes of decompressing, spending quality time together, and generally just making happy memories as a family. It’s no surprise that such a vacation was prioritized by her husband Prince William, either. As one of William’s confidants pointed out a few days ago, Kate’s cancer diagnosis — which came more or less at the same time as his father King Charles’ cancer diagnosis — left the Prince in particularly downtrodden spirits. “The lowest I’ve ever seen him” were the exact words used. So, just to recap, Kate Middleton was away from her royal duties because she had cancer, and now she’s going to live her life at her own pace now that she is not dealing actively with cancer. In doing so, she went on vacation with her family to get a much needed break from the days that she had cancer, and Prince William was understandably upset that Kate and his dad had cancer. The main takeaway here is that cancer blows, and those who have recovered from or are battling cancer don’t deserve to have their public and professional lives scrutinized to any sizeable degree — certainly not to the degree that Kate’s is as a member of the Royal Family. Ditto the cancer patient’s loved ones, like William and her three children. To that point, if you or a loved one is in the midst of such a battle, CancerCare is a resource that allows individuals and families to explore a myriad of different supports offered for cancer patients, including counseling, retreats, housing, meal delivery, and a good many other resources. May this period end up as nothing more than a distant memory of a then-uncertain future, hopefully one that was richly lived in equal or greater measure than it is now.