Kate meets aides to discuss her annual Christmas carol service

The Princess of Wales has been working on one of the highlights of the royal calendar, her annual Christmas carol service.

Kate was mentioned in the Court Circular after holding a meeting at Windsor Castle on Tuesday about the event, with aides and members of her Royal Foundation.

It is only the fourth time she has been mentioned in the Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements, since her cancer health scare began at the start of the year.

The service will be held at Westminster Abbey for the fourth year running and will be broadcast on ITV on Christmas Eve.

The princess is expected to host the service, as she has done in previous years, and is likely to be joined by her husband, children and other members of the royal family.

She recently announced the completion of her chemotherapy treatment, in a deeply personal video with her family, and said her focus was “doing what I can to stay cancer free”.

Her heartfelt message about her cancer was spoken over film of the family outdoors, as the couple cuddled and held hands.

The meeting follows another held last week, also mentioned in the Court Circular, and is another step towards the future Queen resuming a full programme of engagements at some point.

The princess had been receiving chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February. The King began his cancer care earlier that month after being diagnosed with an enlarged prostate.

While receiving treatment, Kate had been undertaking some work behind the scenes, meeting her staff and representatives from the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, but these were not officially recorded.

She attended the King’s birthday parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, in June, and the following month presented the winning trophy in the men’s Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz. Both were mentioned in the Court Circular.