Catherine was motivated to complete the Challenge by her desire to help raise funds for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, where she was a patient during her cancer treatment and where she now serves as joint patron with Prince William.
And while the Princess of Wales’ family – including the Prince of Wales, her three children, and her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton – were on hand to celebrate the future queen after she finished the gruelling challenge, it was her brother, James, who accompanied her on the journey.
The Princess’s brother continued with glowing praise for his sister: ‘Seeing how far you’ve come is nothing short of inspiring. Your strength, resilience, and determination, all while being the most amazing mother, wife, daughter, and sister, inspire me and so many others every single day.
Keep being exactly who you are.’
The Princess of Wales revealed in June that she had completed the Three Peaks Challenge
Instagram/princeandprincessofwales
The Princess of Wales has also reflected on what was a milestone achievement in her recovery from chemotherapy. ‘Cancer doesn’t just affect the body. It changes how you think and feel and profoundly affects every aspect of life. I know this personally, and that the journey through and beyond treatment requires more than medicine alone,’ she wrote in a deeply personal Instagram caption.
‘I have taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge, not simply as a physical endeavour but as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back. The Royal Marsden is a place that holds great meaning for me and whose care and expertise are life changing for so many people.’
On 22 March 2024, the Princess of Wales shocked the world by announcing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In a deeply moving, highly personal video, the future queen and mother-of-three sat on a bench at her home in Windsor and told the public that the news had been a ‘huge shock’, but that she had been undergoing preemptive treatment for two months.