rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
Kensington Palace has confirmed Catherine, the Princess of Wales, will attend Trooping the Colour on Saturday in what will be her first public engagement since her cancer diagnosis.
Kate announced in March she was undergoing chemotherapy after an unspecified form of cancer was found during major abdominal surgery in January.
At the time, her and William’s office said she would not return to public duties until her doctors say she is well enough to do so.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
In a statement on Friday evening, Kate said she was “looking forward” to attending the parade with family, and hoped to join further public engagements over the summer but knows she is “not out of the woods yet”.
The announcement is a significant milestone but does not mark a return to full-time public duties for Kate.
The 42-year-old said her treatment was “ongoing” and is expected to continue “for a few more months”.
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” she said.
“On those bad days, you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well.
“On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home.
“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal.
“Thank you so much for your continued understanding.”
She said messages of support in recent months had helped her and William “through some of the harder times”.
Trooping the Colour, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, is an annual military parade that occurs each June to mark the monarch’s official birthday in a tradition that dates back more than 260 years.
King Charles III, who also is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, is due to oversee the ceremony, in which troops in full dress uniform parade past the king with their ceremonial flag, or “colour.”
Kate is expected to travel in a horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace with the couple’s children — Prince George, 10; Princess Charlotte, 9; and Prince Louis, who is 6 — before watching the ceremony from a building beside the parade ground.
She may also join other royals for a traditional Buckingham Palace balcony appearance.
Last week, Kate wrote a letter to the Irish Guards to apologise for being unable to take the salute for The Colonel’s Review in London – held seven days ahead of the Trooping the Colour parade.
In the letter, Kate – who is the honorary colonel of the regiment – said her position “remains an honour” and “wanted to write to you to let you know how proud I am of the entire regiment”.
Charles, 75, disclosed his cancer in February and has recently eased back into public duties. He attended commemorations this week for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 6, 1944.
He is likely to travel to Saturday’s event by carriage with Queen Camilla and is expected to watch the ceremony seated on a dais, rather than on horseback as he did last year.
– with AP
Sign up to the 7NEWS app here – the news you want, when you need it. Download now, for free.