Every year, royal fans look forward to Kate Middleton’s birthday for a special glimpse of the future queen, and this year carried extra anticipation as it marked her first birthday after her cancer remission.
However, this year, Kensington Palace remained quiet on the Princess of Wales’s special day, marked last week, and did not release her new portrait. Instead, they shared glimpses of Catherine strolling through Berkshire in the final instalment of her Mother Nature series.
Now, Express UK, in its Sunday, January 11 article, has revealed an unexpected reason why the palace skipped releasing Kate’s new photo on her 44th birthday.
According to an insider, the future queen celebrated her big day privately, surrounded only by her loved ones, and not posting the photo was “simply a loving gesture by William after a difficult year for his wife.”
In January 2025, just a few days after her 43rd birthday, Princess Kate revealed that she was in remission after a tough battle with cancer in the year before.
After resuming a regular schedule of public duties over the past year, including engagements across the country and a two-day visit to the Isle of Mull, the 2026 birthday for the princess was a celebration of normal life, shared the source.
For her 44th birthday, Catherine focused on her husband, Prince William, and children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, keeping the day private.
As per the outlet, no new photo was released, as 2026 marks a return to normal royal life, highlighted by the family’s recent move to Forest Lodge, and a fresh start for the five of them.
