Why the Princess of Wales climbed the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales — in a weekend

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For Catherine, Princess of Wales, climbing the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales over a recent weekend was more than a rigorous outdoor pursuit.

"I have taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge not simply as a physical endeavour, but as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back," Catherine said in a message after completing the trek in support of the hospital where she received treatment for cancer two years ago.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in this country hear the words no one wants to hear. What follows is a path that tests every part of who we are: physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. The challenges ripple outwards, touching families, friendships,… <a href="https://t.co/aCkGZBbmWy">pic.twitter.com/aCkGZBbmWy</a>

"The Royal Marsden is a place that holds great meaning for me and whose care and expertise are life-changing for so many people," she said. "Through this challenge, I want to raise awareness for the deeper impact of serious illness and the importance of holistic health care."

As part of the Three Peaks Challenge, Catherine scaled Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Ben Nevis in Scotland. A few days later, photos were shared on social media showing her reuniting with her husband, Prince William, and their three children after the trek. The Middleton side of the family — her parents and brother — were there, too.

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As much as the endeavour meant more personally for Catherine than just a trek up three mountains in dodgy weather, there were signals about how a slimmed-down Royal Family approaches its role in trying to be a more relatable 21st-century monarchy, particularly in the photos of hugs and general family relaxation that followed.

"This was one of the most significant unchoreographed or uncurated moments of this family and possibly of any family unit within that core of the monarchy that we have ever seen," royal historian Justin Vovk said in an interview.

"It certainly fits with the messaging we have been getting from the Waleses about making themselves more accessible, making the monarchy more accessible, showing people that 'we don't just put on tiaras and give speeches ... Life and its difficulties don't give us special treatment compared to anyone else. We are privileged, but we don't get protection from things like cancer.'"

The announcement of the trek came in a release from Kensington Palace on a Sunday night.

It all seemed to unfold with a "relative minimum amount of fuss," Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, said in an interview.

"It wasn't announced really beforehand," he said. "It's the sort of thing you would imagine a young member of the Royal Family doing as part of a more modern monarchy."

Rather than doing the trek on her own, Catherine completed it with others, something that stood out to Prescott.

That shows a "just more open ... A more normal approach — that they're not ... Merely princes and princesses, sort of bouncing around in their palaces."

In that respect, Prescott said, they are more like other royal families in countries such as the Netherlands or Sweden.

"You don't want to say less high-profile [monarchies], but less ... Fuss about them."

Catherine offered more comments about how she prepared for the endeavour when she was heard talking about it on the social media series Overheard at Wimbledon.

"I did it in 24 hours — that was the challenge anyway," she said as she chatted with retired British tennis player Tim Henman. "But I think part of the journey was trying to enjoy the process, like the training beforehand, but also making time during the walk to meet people ... Rather than just actually just quickly getting to the top."

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In a separate Instagram post in connection with Catherine's trek, her brother, James Middleton, wrote of his pride in his sister and how they had "talked about climbing mountains while you were in hospital, and about the incredible healing power that nature can have for both the body and the mind."

A comment like that, Vovk said, offers rare insight.

"That was, I think, one of the first times that her cancer experience has been talked about in such a personal way."

Vovk expects we will see more of these kinds of moments from William and Catherine's family, and he sees it as the latest step in the evolution and adaptation of the monarchy.

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"As public values have evolved over the last 150 years, political institutions have sought to become more representative, more egalitarian, more inclusive," he said.

And that has raised questions, he suggested, about whether the monarchy remains somewhat detached from society or if it should try to keep in step.

And, at least implicitly, Vovk said, from King Charles, Prince William and Catherine, the answer right now is "that, yes, the monarchy should evolve with the people if the monarchy is supposed to be the representative of everybody."

Had this past week transpired as Prince Harry seemed to be planning, his whole family would have been with him throughout his visit back to England.

But after much confusion and many contradictory headlines about security matters and whether he would or wouldn't — or could or couldn't — stay in Buckingham Palace, he didn't. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and their two children weren't seen with him in London.

The family did meet with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Charles's rural Gloucestershire home on Friday, the BBC reported.

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At the same time, a long-anticipated court ruling in his last major media trial landed, and it did not go his way. In the High Court ruling on the privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Judge Matthew Nicklin ⁠said ⁠that Harry and six other claimants had needed to prove that information published about ​them had been ⁠obtained unlawfully, but suspicion was not enough.

Observers described the loss as a "bitter personal blow" and a "significant setback" in Harry's fight against media intrusion.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from official royal duties and moved to California in 2020, but Harry returns to the U.K. Regularly for charitable events. He was on hand at a children's hospital in Birmingham on Thursday and had an event there on Friday in connection with the Invictus Games, which he founded for injured and ill service members.

Prescott sees Harry having a "fundamental confusion" between public and private in connection with the monarchy, something that came to the fore this week and undermines him.

"It's unfortunate that the [court] judgment came out just when he happened to be in the country — that's just one of those things — but it has taken attention [away from] what he's come here to do."

Word of the ruling in the media case spread as Harry was at an event for the Invictus Games in London on Tuesday. He didn't mention it verbally at the time, according to media reports, but a written statement was issued later.

Still, Vovk saw Harry's actions as a reflection of his fundamental royal background and upbringing.

"When the announcement was released and he was in the middle of speaking — and the way he continued with the engagement, with doing selfies with people and meeting people — immediately I'm [thinking]: 'You can take the prince out of the Royal Family, but you can't take the Royal Family out of the prince."

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Royals have an ability to compartmentalize their feelings and carry on with public responsibilities even when they've received bad news, Vovk said.

"Whether people like Harry or hate him, that is still part of who he is, and that's something we have seen and we will continue to see in whatever role he continues to carve out for himself in life."

Media focus on Harry's visit this past week has also drawn attention to the rift with his family, fuelled in part by criticisms he and Meghan have made.

Friday's visit with the King and Queen was the first time Charles has seen Harry and Meghan's children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, in person since 2022. Harry and Meghan had also not been in the country together since then.

By many accounts, Harry's rift with his brother, Prince William, runs deeper, and there was no public indication there was a meeting between the two on this visit.

Amid all the royal financial reports that were released recently, there was one very specific reference — and change — to a controversial arrangement that has personally benefited Prince William.

Much scrutiny had fallen on the fact that within the annual income William was receiving from the Duchy of Cornwall, there was 1.5 million pounds ($2.8 million Cdn) in annual rent from an empty prison, where high levels of radon had been detected.

William now says he won't benefit personally from the rent and that while the building's future is being reconsidered, the annual income is to be directed into the surrounding Dartmoor area.

"This income will be invested into the local community, recognizing the impact of the prison closure," the Duchy said on its website.

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Broadly speaking both the Duchy of Cornwall and King Charles's Duchy of Lancaster have been under scrutiny and criticism.

"Property values have grown and they've benefited from that, and of course that doesn't really sit well with the idea of monarchy today, which is a public institution for the public good," Prescott said. "And then when you find out that [William is] receiving taxpayers' money for a prison that can't be used as a prison, none of that sits well."

The funds are earmarked for environmental projects in Dartmoor, an environmentally important area of Cornwall and the country, Prescott said.

"They sort of turned it around and [are] trying to use it in a way that sits with the rest of the monarchy."

"The weather was atrocious. I mean, everybody got soaked through, but it was a very sort of stoically British thing to do. You know, you're soaking wet, and everyone's going, 'Come on, we can do it.'"

— Catherine, Princess of Wales, on the Overheard at Wimbledon social media series, speaking about her hike up the three mountains within 24 hours for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

King Charles and Queen Camilla led members of the Royal Family in the annual Royal Week in Scotland. Charles took part in a ceremony at his official residence, and Camilla met author J.K. Rowling to mark the start of the week. [BBC]

Lady Louise Windsor was presented with the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award by her father, Prince Edward, after graduating from the University of St Andrews, before she embarks on a gap year. [Daily Mail]

King Charles took a ride in a British army tank during his first visit to the Royal Tank Regiment since becoming its colonel-in-chief. [BBC]

No royal has ever shown their love for soccer quite like Prince William. [BBC]

Keeping in that sporting vein, William talked soccer, American football and Travis Kelce's performance as a "backup dancer" to Taylor Swift on an episode of Kelce's podcast that dropped the day he and Swift were married in New York City. [Hollywood Reporter]

The Duke of York's theatre in London's West End is to be renamed after the playwright Tom Stoppard, says the theatre's owner. [BBC]

The Queen and the Princess of Wales hailed Arthur Fery's Wimbledon victory a "fantastic achievement" as the British wildcard reached the semifinals of the competition. Catherine also greeted tennis fans who lined up for hours in the hopes of securing a ticket, as she attended the fourth day of the tournament. [ITV].

Senior Writer

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