Kate Middleton’s Private Chemotherapy Journey ‘Must Have Been Pretty Lonely,’ Royal Insider Says

Kate Middleton shared that she faced her cancer treatment “quietly and privately” during a visit to the London hospital where she received care, offering insight into the isolating experience.

“Going through the back door unseen while going through the treatment must have been pretty lonely,” a close royal insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story. “When you see these other people when they’re having their chemotherapy, they were doing it as a group, with a support mechanism.”

The Princess of Wales, 43, contrasted her own experience while visiting The Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Jan. 14, which coincided with the confirmation that she previously received treatment there during her cancer journey.

Admitting the difference, Kate said, “I had to do it privately and quietly, but being on a ward like this has to be reassuring in a way.” She shared the sentiment while speaking with Katherine Field, who was in the midst of her fourth chemotherapy session for breast cancer during the princess’s visit.

Related: Kate Middleton Opens Up About Her Private Cancer Journey: ‘You Need Loads of Water and Sunlight’

For Field, the camaraderie among patients sharing chemotherapy sessions has been a source of comfort.

“There is a real sense of community,” she tells PEOPLE, drawing a contrast to Princess Kate’s private ordeal, but said speaking with Kate was “just like talking to a friend.”

For much of 2024, the Princess of Wales slipped through a secluded door at the Royal Marsden Hospital and attended regular chemotherapy sessions away from the public eye. It was a lonely path during the most challenging year of her life.

Princess Kate was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer following serious abdominal surgery on Jan. 16, 2024, and kept it confidential for several weeks as she and Prince William  worked to process the enormity of the news and explain it to their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The Princess of Wales announced to the world last March that she was undergoing treatment for cancer, and relayed in September that she had completed chemotherapy.

PEOPLE Magazine, Feb. 3, 2025.

Related: A Complete Timeline of Kate Middleton’s Abdominal Surgery and Cancer Diagnosis

One year after her abdominal surgery, Kate walked confidently through the Royal Marsden’s front entrance for the first time. She returned not only as a woman in remission, but also as an advocate for those still in the midst of their fight.

Initially scheduled to be there for an hour, the princess extended her visit by 20 minutes as she met with patients and staff, offering hugs and sincere advice.

Angela Terry, a lung cancer patient, tells PEOPLE that Kate’s “gentle eye contact” and “level of connection” left an impression. The royal also reassured Rebecca Mendlesohn, who is in a trial for metastatic cancer, and wrapped her in an emotional embrace.

“It will get better. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You’re in the best hands,” she told the patient.

Kate would know. After leaving the hospital, she released a statement expressing her gratitude to the Royal Marsden staff “for looking after me so well during the past year” and shared her “relief to now be in remission.” The princess paid tribute to the support she had received, sharing “heartfelt thanks” to “all those who have quietly walked alongside William and me as we have navigated everything.”

“It has been a tough journey — harder than we perhaps thought,” says a source close to the royal household. “She has been through a lot, and it has been a rough road. Serious illness like cancer does change you. She has a young family, and it makes you rethink everything — your purpose and what you want to do with your life.”

In a meaningful nod to tradition, Prince William and Princess Kate were confirmed as joint patrons of the hospital on the day of her visit. The roles carry forward the legacy of William’s mother, Princess Diana, who became president of the center in 1989.

While Kate’s hospital stop was a bright spot for those currently receiving care, royal historian and writer Dr. Amanda Foreman believes the visit would have been “beyond draining” for her, both psychologically and physically.

“She’s like a gold medal Olympic skater, where they make their moves look so easy, but you forget that it requires incredible skill and self-control and discipline,” Foreman tells PEOPLE.

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Princess Kate’s yearlong experience and her carefully measured openness, shared only when she was ready, have deepened the public’s admiration for her, Foreman observes.

“What the treatment has done is remove a filter and create this immediacy between her and the public,” she says. “I can’t think of a working royal who has ever done that.”

For more on Princess Kate’s new life in remission, pick up PEOPLE’s latest issue, on newsstands Friday.

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