The Princess of Wales today made a surprise visit to Charing Cross Hospital with her husband, Prince William, who had been due to attend the engagement solo. The couple were visiting in their roles as joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together in 2020, a role that they took on at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Kensington Palace stated that Catherine, who turns 44 tomorrow, ‘wanted to join her husband to show her support for the NHS and to thank the teams at Charing Cross for their efforts’.
For their first engagement of 2026, the couple met with volunteers from Imperial Health Charity, who help improve care for patients and take pressure off the wider workforce. One volunteer, Maureen Gilmour, who works on the chemotherapy unit said: ‘People sit there for hours’.
Catherine replied: ‘I know’, then touched William and said: ‘We know.’
She added: ‘You’ve got to have that support from you as a team, from a patient’s experience it’s important things not in job description such as kindness and compassion’.
William praised the volunteers for being ‘diligent’, while Catherine highlighted the value of meaningful interaction between volunteers and patients.
Healthcare staff at the hospital were surprised to see the Prince and Princess whilst they were on their breaks, but William and Catherine made sure to chat to them about the pressures they’ve faced during the winter virus season.
The hospital staff were gathered in a break room paid for by Imperial Health Charity, which is a member of NHS Charities Together.
The couple then joined a roundtable discussion of the role of philanthropy with NHS charity chief executives, trustees, philanthropists and policymakers.
The Prince spoke of his wife’s journey in an impromptu speech remarking that he and Catherine ‘had a very nice tour round the rehabilitation unit upstairs and seen some of the supporting structures and things put together by the NHS Charities Together’.
‘Both of us had different experiences with hospitals, me working with the air ambulance and Catherine with her recent health journey, and coming here today reminds ourselves just how important all the teams are, all the staff, the patient sort of interactions,’ he added.
‘It’s so heart warming and it’s so important that we kind of acknowledge and appreciate all that goes on in the NHS, and that very strong bond between patient and carer’.
‘We all applauded the NHS for many weeks through Covid and this feels like like a moment to remind ourselves why we did that applauding and why the next stage and energy level into the NHS can come from the likes of you around the table in this room. As Joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together we are so fortunate, so proud at everything that is being done around Charities Together’.
The future King commented that there was huge income inequality around the country when it came to charitable contributions and that ‘it shouldn’t really be a case of where you are around the country, if there is excitement and opportunity we should embrace it’.
William and Catherine also met with patients and volunteers in an art therapy room on a ward, which provides rehabilitation for patients with neurological conditions and traumas.
In a conversation with a patient, the Princess said: ‘I was just saying that you need the medical support but actually being able to have the sort of holistic support alongside it… it must help the days go past’.
She added that ‘creativity and nature played such a huge part’ in her recovery journey.
The couple were last seen on Christmas Day when they joined their children George, Charlotte and Louis, and members of the Royal Family for the annual church service at Sandringham in Norfolk.
This year is set to be a big year for the couple who are due to mark their 15th wedding anniversary in April as well as issue their first set of Royal Warrants as Prince and Princess of Wales.
