Kate Middleton Had a Wholesome Hobby While Undergoing Cancer Treatment

Anyone undergoing cancer treatment knows that it's hard to focus on anything else, something the Princess of Wales deeply sympathizes with. The royal was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer in the spring of 2024, and has spent the last couple years in treatment, recovery and now the reentrance into public life. Princess Catherine has taken on many engagements championing cancer care since, including a visit earlier this summer to a treatment center in Manchester, where she visited with patients and congratulated a tearful young mother who was ringing the cancer bell that day. The Princess was also forthcoming about her own experience, sharing about a new hobby she picked up while in the hospital.

In a conversation with one of the patients posted on X, Princess Catherine revealed that during her treatments, "I didn’t have the ability to read or really focus on anything." She went on to share the surprisingly wholesome hobby she turned to in order to pass the time: Coloring. "[It] was my way of exploring interesting things and being able to do something that did not require an end product, or an end finished piece...[it's] just a way of playing and losing yourself," she said.

Astute royal fans will know that this hobby isn't new—Princess Catherine has been a documented coloring book fan for a decade. InStyle reported that Prince William mentioned his wife's love of the activity while presenting Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford with an OBE for services to art and entrepreneurship. The Prince of Wales told Basford that Princess Catherine enjoyed the latter's 2013 coloring book, Secret Garden.

2026 has proved to be Princess Catherine's comeback year, as she's taken on a full plate of engagements including garden parties, family weddings, Royal Ascot and Wimbledon. But the pièce de résistance has certainly been her completion of the National Three Peaks Challenge, during which the royal mom of three ascended the tallest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales in 24 hours with the goal of raising money for The Royal Marsden, where she completed her cancer treatment. Though challenging, Princess Catherine said, “Everyone’s been so generous. That’s what keeps you going; it’s when you know you’re doing it for a good cause it keeps you going through the harder times.”

She was met at the base of the last mountain by her family: Prince William and the children, along with her parents, who came to greet her and her brother, James Middleton, who accompanied her. There, she and Prince William shared a rare, affectionate, emotional hug. (Even Princess Charlotte was crying.)

"Healing, whether personal or collective, is not just about fixing what is wrong. It is about finding balance in how we live," Princess Catherine wrote in a commemorative Instagram post. "Between effort and acceptance, between control and trust, between thinking and simply being. Because in the end, bravery isn’t just about pushing forward. It is about knowing how to stay grounded, connected and present, no matter the terrain or landscape you are walking."