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By James Crawford-Smith
Royal Reporter
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Prince William's comment about Princess Kate's recovery following a cancer diagnosis earlier this year has gone viral after news cameras captured a conversation shared by the prince and a veteran at an 80th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings on Wednesday.
Kate has been out of the public eye since January, first to undergo abdominal surgery and then following a cancer diagnosis, which was announced in March.
Kensington Palace in London has not provided commentary on the progress of the royal's preventative chemotherapy treatment or her recovery. This has placed increased public focus on any update William has given while meeting members of the public in recent weeks.
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The prince joined King Charles III and Queen Camilla at a commemorative event held in the naval city of Portsmouth, southern England, on Wednesday, marking the 80th anniversary of the World War II operations, culminating in D-Day. The landings involved troops from several Allied powers including the U.K. and U.S. and took place on June 6, 1944, leading to the liberation of France and hastening the end of the war in Europe.
Uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) by user @TribesBritannia, footage of William meeting a D-Day veteran at the event has gone viral, with the royal responding to a question about his wife's cancer recovery.
"I was going to ask you if your wife is getting any better," the veteran asked, according to the subtitled video.
"Yes, she's getting better, yeah," William responded.
This is a positive update on Kate's health as Kensington Palace confirmed last month that the princess would not be returning to her public duties until she was cleared to do so by her medical team.
In his conversation with the veteran, William also referenced the wartime service of his wife's family.
"She would've loved to be here today," the prince said of Kate. "I was reminding everyone how her grandmother served at Bletchley [Park, the top-secret headquarters of the World War II codebreakers]. So she had quite a bit in common with some of the ladies here who were at Bletchley who never spoke about anything until the very end."
This was a reference to Kate's paternal grandmother, Valerie Middleton (née Glassborow), who served at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where Alan Turing famously decoded Nazi messages that used the "Enigma" machine cypher.
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In 2014 and 2016, Kate officially visited Bletchley Park, which is now run as a visitor attraction and education center. During her time at the property, she inspected the spaces her grandmother operated in and met some of her former colleagues.
The social-media clip of William's conversation about Kate on June 5 has been viewed over 150,000 times so far, gaining in excess of 7,300 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the prince and princess.
"This just gives me the feels! He is actually engaging in conversation and is genuine. Love it!" wrote one X user.
"Prince William has to be one of the sweetest men in the RF [royal family] (besides his father). He always shows so much compassion and kindness towards the people he meets. He was sincerely moved about the other person's concern about his wife," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Such a sweet exchange."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek*'s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on* Newsweek*'s The Royals Facebook page.*
Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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