Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis will fundamentally change her role as a member of the monarchy, sources say.
According to sources who spoke exclusively to The Daily Beast, Kate Middleton's “brush with mortality” has changed her priorities, leaving her to slow down and "focus on her family and children."
The Princess of Wales will "continue to maintain a much lower profile than before, with less frequent public engagements even after her expected full recovery," the publication reports.
The same sources say that Princess Kate's ongoing preventative chemotherapy treatments are "understood to be going well," though they did not give any dates or indication as to when she is expected to forego those treatments.
“Kate has been exceptionally open and honest about her health. Making two appearances before the summer break, at Wimbledon and Trooping the Colour, was a clear signal that she is doing well," a friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales told the publication. "That is what we are hearing privately as well—it’s not over but there is lots of optimism, lots of positivity.”
In June, Middleton posted an update on her health before she made a somewhat surprise (and very welcomed) appearance at this year's Trooping the Colour.
"I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days," she wrote on Instagram. "On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well."
The Princess of Wales went on to say that her "treatment is going well" before adding that it will continue for "a few more months."
"On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spending personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home," she continued.
According to Robert Jobson, author of Catherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, Middleton has remained "very calm" throughout her cancer treatment.
"She's a person who wants to find solutions and rise above the noise and the drama," the author told Hello! magazine in a recent interview. "I think, given what she's gone through, you don't want to waste any time on noise, on drama, when you've had anything to do with your health."
