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Prince William returns to royal duties© Kensington Palace/Twitter

Prince William returns to royal duties for first time since Princess of Wales’ surgery

It was the heir to the throne’s first public engagement since Jan. 11


FEBRUARY 7, 2024 12:14 PM EST

The  Prince of Wales  returned to public duties on Wednesday for the first time following his wife the  Princess of Wales ’ surgery. Prince William carried out an investiture at Windsor Castle. It marked his first public appearance since his father  King Charles ’ cancer diagnosis was made public. Alongside pictures from the ceremony, the Waleses’ Instagram account wrote, “Honouring amazing people doing incredible things in our communities up and down the country.”

MBE recipient Patricia Spruce revealed on LinkedIn that the Prince praised two of his wife’s nurses. “What an amazing experience, the castle was just breathtaking, everyone was so lovely too us as we were just in awe of everything. Prince William said that [Catherine] had two Filipino nurses looking after her and they were amazing and kind,” Patricia penned.

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The investiture was Prince William’s first public engagement since Jan. 11. After the Princess of Wales’ abdominal surgery last month, it was reported that His Royal Highness had postponed some upcoming engagements to support his wife and their kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The heir to the throne will be out again on Wednesday evening. William, who is a former air ambulance pilot, is set to attend the London’s Air Ambulance Charity Gala.

According to the  Daily Mail , William “has no further duties scheduled this week and will be with Kate and the children again next week during their half-term holiday.” A source told the outlet, “The Prince has always made clear that his priority is to support his wife and family for the time being – and he did not put a timescale on that,” adding, “He will make a return to duties on Wednesday but you should not expect to see him again for a bit after that.”

Catherine was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 16 for her planned surgery. It was announced on Jan. 29 that the Princess had left the hospital and returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery. Kensington Palace has said that the Princess of Wales is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.