The Princess of Wales has offered a deeply personal reflection on the toll of her cancer treatment, telling patients at a Manchester hospital that the ordeal left her unable to read or concentrate — and that she found unexpected relief in something as simple as coloring. Footage of Kate Middleton speaking with fellow patients during her June 4 visit to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust resurfaced in July, drawing attention to the candor with which she described her recovery.
The Princess of Wales spoke openly during the visit about how chemotherapy stripped away her ability to focus on activities she had once taken for granted. In a video from the day shared online, she told patients that she surprisingly spent much of her time coloring to keep her mind occupied while she was too depleted to read.
“I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have the ability to read or really focus on anything,” she said. She described coloring as a way to explore ideas without the burden of producing a finished result — an activity that demanded far less sustained concentration than reading.
A Creative Outlet Without Pressure
The princess told patients that the appeal of coloring lay in its lack of expectation. There was no end product to strive toward, no polished piece to complete — only the act itself. She called it “just a way of playing and losing yourself,” a description that captured how the pastime gave her a manageable way to stay engaged with art during the hardest stretches of treatment.
Creativity was already familiar ground for her. Kate studied art history at the University of St Andrews, and she has folded drawing, photography and other creative pursuits into projects tied to her children and her early-childhood work. Her interest in coloring, in particular, was no secret. William had previously shared that his wife was a fan of adult coloring books, particularly Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford’s “Secret Garden.”
William mentioned his wife’s fondness for coloring when he presented Basford with an OBE in 2016. Basford said at the time that the prince told her Kate liked to color in “Secret Garden,” which she found endearing.
Support Beyond Clinical Care
Kate shared her story while touring several parts of The Christie, including its chemotherapy treatment areas, art room, wellbeing garden, and unit for Teenage and Young Adult patients. The Manchester center pairs clinical treatment with a range of complementary and holistic services — art classes, massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, and emotional and spiritual support.
During an art session, the princess met patients and learned how creative expression can help people process the emotional weight of treatment and recovery. She also spoke with individuals undergoing chemotherapy. The hospital’s art room and complementary therapies are funded through its charity and offered free to patients and their caregivers. The Christie treats more than 60,000 patients each year, serving Greater Manchester and the surrounding region.
An Emotional Moment With a Patient
One affecting exchange of the visit came when Kate met Claire Lorente, a 30-year-old mother marking the final day of her breast cancer treatment. The princess embraced Lorente and praised her for the road she had traveled, telling her, “Well done! What a journey.” She turned to Lorente’s partner as well, hugging him and acknowledging how heavily illness weighs on families and loved ones.
Kate then watched as Lorente rang a bell to signal the end of her treatments, applauding and telling her that the day belonged to her. It was a scene that mirrored, in many ways, the milestone the princess herself had reached the year before.
Kate’s own path has been closely followed since she first disclosed her diagnosis. In March 2024, she announced that cancer had been discovered following abdominal surgery and that her medical team had recommended a course of preventive chemotherapy. She did not reveal the type or stage of the disease. In September 2024, she said she had finished chemotherapy following what she called an exceptionally challenging nine-month period for her family.
By January 2025, the princess announced that she was in remission and focused on continuing her recovery. Her willingness to speak plainly about the practical realities of treatment — the fatigue, the loss of focus, the small strategies that helped her endure — has resonated with patients navigating the same terrain, and her visit to The Christie underscored how far she has come.
The renewed circulation of the footage this month has offered a rare, unguarded look at how the princess coped with an illness that upended her life. In sharing that she leaned on something as unassuming as a coloring book, Kate reframed a difficult chapter not around the treatment’s severity but around the quiet ways she reclaimed a sense of calm.