Princess Kate made her first traditional royal visit of 2024 with a trip to Southport on Thursday to meet the families of three girls killed in a knife attack.

Kate and visited the town in the north of England where the deaths of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, sparked subsequent protests and rioting about immigration.

The princess has been absent from public life after surgery and a cancer diagnosis for most of 2024.

She made her first appearance at Trooping the Color, the king’s birthday parade, in June, and attended the final of Wimbledon tennis tournament in July but this is her first traditional royal visit of the kind she previously conducted week in and week out.

A Kensington Palace statement read: “Today, The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Southport to show support to the community and hear how local people have come together as the town recovers from the tragic knife attack that took place on 29th July 2024.

“During the visit, Their Royal Highnesses met with the fire, ambulance, air ambulance and police services at the Southport Community Centre. The Prince and Princess heard about their experiences of responding to the attack and the impact it has had on their mental health.”

“In Southport,” the statement continued, “Their Royal Highnesses also met privately with the families of the three children who tragically lost their lives and a dance teacher who was present when the attack happened.”

Also on Thursday, Sarah Ferguson, ‘s ex-wife, went on British TV to provide insight into how she is prioritizing self care.

Sarah Ferguson has herself been diagnosed with cancer twice in recent years and was on This Morning discussing her children’s book Flora and Fern: Wonder in the Woods.

She was asked about Kate’s cancer recovery one month on from the princess’ last major update, announcing the end of her chemotherapy.

Ben Shephard, the presenter, said: “I think the other thing Sarah that has been really tangible is seeing Princess Kate going through what she’s going through and seeing her being so public, and the King of course.”

Ferguson took the opportunity to praise a video Kate released on September 9 announcing the end of her chemotherapy: “The video that the Princess did was just incredible, I mean, I was so moved.”

She was then asked how Kate’s recovery is going and said: “She’s just showing the world what it is to really look after yourself and self love in order to help others, I think that’s extraordinary what she’s doing.”

The princess had abdominal surgery in January for an undisclosed medical issue that was not initially thought to be cancerous.

Further tests showed cancer had in fact been present, with Kate beginning chemotherapy in late February.

The palace did not initially make this dramatic shift in health public, even as speculation began to grow on social media, with “Where is ?” trending and conspiracy theories, gossip and allegations of a palace cover-up becoming feverish.

Kate was in March announced she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

In September she released her chemotherapy announcement video while in October Kensington Palace released pictures of her meeting a teenage photographer with an aggressive form of cancer.

While Kate is no longer receiving chemotherapy, she has also not returned to work full-time, choosing instead to do much of her work from home.

Williams Brown is Regalrumination.com‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly , at and read his stories on Regalrumination.com’s .

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