The Princess of Wales will return to major long-haul royal tours this week, travelling to India with Prince William for her first such trip since announcing her cancer diagnosis in March 2024.

Kensington Palace has confirmed three days of engagements beginning on Monday. The couple’s first visit to India in ten years will include Tuesday’s Earthshot Prize ceremony in Mumbai, where winners in five categories will each receive £1 million to develop environmental solutions.

For Catherine, the journey marks a further step in her gradual return to overseas duties. She was successfully treated at the Royal Marsden hospital for an undisclosed form of cancer and announced that she was in remission the following January.

In May, after her two-day visit to Reggio Emilia in Italy to study its approach to early years teaching, William said she was “edging herself back” into overseas visits. He cautioned that royal trips took their toll and that they needed to “make sure she’s okay and rested”. India therefore represents a return to a particular scale of royal travel, rather than her first engagement abroad since treatment.

The palace says the programme will celebrate innovation, sustainability, youth leadership and connections between the United Kingdom and India. The couple are expected to meet Bollywood stars, learn about the film industry and celebrate India’s enthusiasm for cricket. Their previous visit, in 2016, was a week-long trip that also included Bhutan.

Their last major tour together was to the Caribbean in March 2022. Images from that visit drew criticism for perceived colonial overtones, although many people also welcomed them warmly. Some commentators regarded it as a turning point, arguing that future Commonwealth tours would require greater sensitivity to racial equality following the Black Lives Matter movement.

Catherine last attended an Earthshot awards ceremony in Boston in December 2022. William launched the prize in 2021 to identify environmental solutions and help expand their use.

The Mumbai programme also includes the inaugural Children’s Earthshot Awards. Its “I Can Earthshot Challenge” invited nine to 17-year-olds across India to move beyond environmental awareness and take practical action. Earthshot’s chief executive, Jason Knauf, said local community action driven by young people was vital to repairing the planet.