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BRITAIN'S Prince William and his wife Kate will travel to India this week for a series of engagements, marking the Princess of Wales' biggest overseas trip since undergoing cancer treatment in 2024.
The three-day visit will see the royal couple attend several events in Mumbai, including Tuesday's annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, founded by William in 2020 to promote innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
Kate, 44, has significantly reduced her official engagements since undergoing preventative chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer in 2024. Although she is now in remission, she has said the illness continues to affect her daily life.
The trip represents her most high-profile overseas engagement since her diagnosis, although she travelled alone to Italy for a two-day visit in May as part of her work on early childhood development.
William, 44, has made environmental protection one of his principal causes, following in the footsteps of his father, His Majety King Charles.
The Earthshot Prize awards five winners £1 million (US$1.3 million) each to help expand projects offering solutions to climate change and other environmental challenges.
"For the prince, Earthshot is ultimately about replacing pessimism with possibility," Reuters reported a spokesperson for the couple's office at Kensington Palace said.
"It is about demonstrating that while the environmental challenges facing our planet are serious, the ingenuity, determination and creativity being applied to solving them are every bit as powerful."
Organisers say this year's ceremony will be the biggest yet, with Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, actors Alia Bhatt and Rami Malek, and British pop group Take That among the guests.
Take That will also make their first-ever performance in India during the ceremony.
"To be performing here for the very first time, after all these years, and alongside the extraordinary people creating a better future for our planet - is really special," the group said in a statement.
Beyond the awards ceremony, William and Kate are scheduled to attend engagements linked to Indian cricket, fashion and cinema.
Since her illness, Kate has gradually increased her public appearances but has not previously accompanied William on an overseas engagement.
Speaking about her recovery in an interview published this week in Country Life magazine, for which William served as guest editor, she said the process had not been straightforward.
"I was told in hospital that my recovery would not be linear. There will be good days and bad days, that it will take time," she said. - November 15, 2026
