Kate Middleton to Join Prince William in India for First Joint Overseas Trip Since Cancer Diagnosis

NEED TO KNOW

• Kate Middleton is officially accompanying Prince William to the 2027 Earthshot Prize in India, marking their first joint overseas tour since her cancer diagnosis

• The outing will mark the Princess of Wales’ first time attending the environmental awards ceremony since 2022, when the event was held in Boston

• The couple is returning to India a decade after they toured the country together in 2016

Kate Middleton is officially accompanying Prince William to India.

Kensington Palace announced on Nov. 14 that the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 44, will both travel to Mumbai this week for William’s 2026 Earthshot Prize awards ceremony and surrounding events. This will be the biggest Earthshot Prize yet with 5,000 people including heads of state, young people, academics, scientists, businesses, innovators and philanthropists, indigenous people and communities uniting in Mumbai around the awards.

The trip to India will mark the couple’s first joint overseas tour since Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis, which she announced in 2024. Prince William and Princess Kate’s last official tour together was when they visited Boston in the United States in 2022, also for the Earthshot Prize.

Over the past three years, Prince William has traveled solo to three different countries for the Earthshot Prize’s annual awards night. In 2023, Princess Kate didn’t travel with her husband to the event in Singapore so she could support their eldest son, Prince Georgenow 13, during a busy time with school exams.

She also missed the 2024 awards in Cape Town, South Africa, and the 2025 ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as she stepped back from public duties following her cancer diagnosis and recovery.

After patiently waiting for the time and her health to be right, this is the latest stage of Princess Kate’s re-emergence on the world stage. In May, the Princess of Wales took a solo trip overseas when she headed to Reggio Emilia in northern Italy to promote one of her key causes: supporting kids in early childhood.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to be looking forward to several days in the vibrant city of Mumbai, which is India’s cultural and business center. While the main theme of the three days is William’s environmental awards, the couple will team up for other outings, where they will be “celebrating innovation, sustainability, youth leadership and the enduring connections between the United Kingdom and India,” the couple’s office at Kensington Palace said.

Princess Kate is expected to inject megawatts of interest and glamour into the week, especially for the awards on Nov. 17, while heightening the royal couple’s role in both promoting Britain and the causes they champion. A close family friend has told PEOPLE that Kate “is an impeccable force for good, a fantastic standard- bearer—not just for the royal family but for the country” on such visits.

Russell Myers, author of William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, told PEOPLE in June, “There’s no denying that everyone concerned has been missing the princess’s star quality. She is a huge draw wherever she goes. Catherine is undoubtedly a central force in the monarchy’s popularity and ability to achieve its goals and move forward. There is no better time for her to return.”

Prince William first launched Earthshot in 2021, with an aim to inspire new ideas and initiatives to combat climate change and other global challenges over the span of a decade.

This year, there have been around 7,000 nominations from 169 countries, while the 15 finalists are the most diverse yet including businesses, policy makers, community leaders, organizers say.

They include Argentinian AI-powered wildfire detection and alert platform Satellites on Fire, which identifies wildfires faster than NASA, Yellowstone to Yukon, connecting the mountain landscape in one of the largest conservation collaborations in history, and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, one of India’s biggest electric three-wheeler manufacturers.

India is a significant destination for Princess Kate’s first Earthshot Awards since 2022 for several reasons. Prince William expressed how well the country aligns with the organization’s goals when he announced the 2026 awards back in February.

“This country is a global technology leader; it’s home to 8% of the world’s biodiversity,” he said. “It’s the world’s fastest-growing major climate with the largest population of young people in the world. And it’s home to more Earthshot Prize finalists and winners than any other country on the planet.”

The royal couple also have a history of their own in the country. They traveled to India and Bhutan in 2016visiting Mumbai, New Delhi, Kaziranga National Park in Assam and the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Princess Kate stepped back from public life after announcing in January 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She revealed that she was in remission in early 2025 and has since slowly scaled up to her regular schedule of royal duties.

She made her first overseas trip in more than two years in May, visiting the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia for a two-day visit focused on the city’s child-centered educational philosophy. The trip was seen as a successful return to the spotlight for the future queen, royal experts told PEOPLE at the time.

“The overriding concern from all quarters has been about her health and managing her eventual return to full-time duties,” said Myers, author of William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story. “She was given every assurance to take as much time as she needed, and this trip signifies that she is feeling better than she has in the last couple of years.”

Since her return to royal life, Princess Kate has also helped to host state visits, like that of U.S. President Donald Trump last September, and, most recently, the Sultan of Oman. Royal experts have described her as something of a diplomatic “secret weapon” for the monarchy.

“She is just a doyenne of perfect manners… definitely showing traits of being a remarkable future queen,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward told PEOPLE following the Trump visit.

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Additionally, Kate has marked off major milestones in her personal life. In June, she secretly completed the National Three Peaks Challengeclimbing the highest summits in Scotland, England and Wales as part of a special campaign to highlight life after a cancer diagnosis.

The following month, she and Prince William dropped off Prince George to start his first year at Eton College, yet another major change for the family.

“It’s not a drop-off, it’s a handover — and that’s a massive transition for parents,” Melanie Sanderson, managing editor at The Good Schools Guidetold PEOPLE. “In secondary school, they will soon realize, the years just fly by.”

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