Prince William returns to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife’s cancer diagnosis, bolstering the royal family’s ranks as health problems continue to sideline the princess and King Charles III.
Britain Royals FILE - Prince William arrives to attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbey in London, on March 11, 2024. Prince William is returning to public duties for the first time since his wife’s cancer diagnosis. He will be bolstering the royal family’s ranks as health problems continue to sideline the Princess of Wales and King Charles III. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File
APTOPIX Britain Royals Britain's Prince William is greeted as he arrives for a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William is shown items by Claire Hopkins, Operations Director, right, during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William is greeted as he arrives for a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
APTOPIX Britain Royals Britain's Prince William cuts celery as he helps to make a bolognase sauce during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William sits in a delivery van during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William sits in a delivery van during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William helps to loads trays of food into vans during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William helps to loads trays of food into vans during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William talks to van drivers during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William is given cards for his wife Kate, The Princess of Wales by volunteer Rachel Candappa during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William meets workers during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool
Britain Royals Britain's Prince William cuts celery as he helps to make a bolognase sauce during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, pool)
LONDON (AP) — Prince William returned to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife’s cancer diagnosis, bolstering the royal family’s ranks as health problems continue to sideline the princess and King Charles III.
William visited a surplus food redistribution center and a youth club it serves, highlighting efforts to reduce food waste as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and feed people in need. The prince stepped away from public duties after Kate, the Princess of Wales, announced on March 22 that she was undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.
In a video message released that day, Kate asked for “time, space and privacy” as she and her family adjusted to her diagnosis.
“I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she said at the time.
“It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be okay,” she added.
Both Charles and Kate have been largely absent from the public stage since January due to health problems, leaving Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and other members of the royal family to pick up the slack on the whirl of events and awards ceremonies that dominate the work of Britain’s monarchy.
Charles announced on Feb. 5 that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer following treatment for an enlarged prostate two weeks earlier. Kate’s diagnosis came after she was hospitalized in late January for unspecified abdominal surgery.
William visited a surplus food distribution charity — Surplus to Supper — in Surrey, southwest of London, where he will lend a hand in the kitchen and help load prepared meals into delivery vans. He will then travel to a youth center in west London that benefits from the food deliveries.
