Loved-up Princess Kate and Prince William share sweet Valentine’s Day post with poignant nod to their ‘hardest year’

PRINCE William has shared a sweet Valentine’s Day post to Princess Kate with a nod to their “hardest year”.

The royal, 42, posted an adorable picture of the couple sitting on a tree trunk, amidst a backdrop of beautiful woodland scenery.

Wills captioned the photograph, which shows Kate giggling as he kisses her cheek, with a simple red love heart.

Fans swooned over the candid snap and hailed “true love forever”.

The picture is a poignant nod to the pair’s “hardest year”, as it was taken from a video they released revealing Kate had finished chemotherapy.

The family also used a different shot from the same video in their Christmas card at the end of last year.

In November, William said the cancer diagnoses of his wife and dad King Charles were “brutal”, but he was “so proud” of both.

Asked on a trip to South Africa how his year had been, he replied: “Honestly? It’s been dreadful.

“It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.”

This comes after Wills also shared a touching tribute to Kate on her birthday last month.

He wished a Happy 43rd Birthday to “the most incredible wife and mother”.

The dad-of-three marked Kate’s special day with an unprecedented personal post and hailed her unwavering “strength”.

The proud husband wrote: “To the most incredible wife and mother.

“The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you.

“Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W”

William also shared an unseen black and white picture of the Princess.

It was taken by photographer Matt Porteous and shows Kate standing tall, but looking relaxed, in Windsor last summer.

It comes as Kate marks a gradual return to work following a turbulent past 12 months.

It has now been just over a year since the princess was admitted to hospital for an operation on January 16, seven days after her 42nd birthday.

She spent nearly two weeks in the London Clinic after major abdominal surgery, before beginning chemotherapy.

Since then, the 43-year-old has remained largely out of the public eye.

But, she announced in September last year that her had finished chemotherapy and she would focus on being “cancer free” in a heartwarming video.

By the end of 2024, the Princess made more appearances including hosting her annual Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey.

And that gradual return continues in 2025 — although fans have been warned not to expect Kate to be “rushing back to the same volume of work” as before.

It is also understood tours abroad are “not on the table”, despite Prince William last year saying they might “have some more trips lined up”.

Instead, Kate’s “primary focus” will be her Centre for Early Childhood and UK-based engagements. She is expected to be seen “up and down the country” this year.

She will also support the Royal Family at events such as Buckingham Palace Garden Parties, Trooping the Colour, Royal Ascot and the Remembrance Day commemorations.

This week, the Princess visited a women’s jail to meet pregnant convicts and mums of babies born behind bars.

The royal spoke to four mum’s about how they cope – as she toured into HMP Styal near Wilmslow in Cheshire.

Kate – patron of Action for Children, wanted to see the jail’s Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) to highlight how important “strong, loving and consistent” relationships are to a child’s development – even in the most challenging of environments.

As she walked through the prison grounds dozens of women inmates leaned out of the windows and the royal was greeted with loud wolf-whistles and cat-calls.

The princess smiled, waved and said “hello” to inmates who peered out for a glimpse of their royal visitor.

Her face-to-face with inmates with newborn babies was private but she also got to speak to two ex-inmates, who had been mothers while previously behind bars.

And earlier this month, Kate was joined by young children for an interactive day at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The gallery had previously launched the Princess’ Shaping Us Framework – a new project aiming to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of social and emotional skills across society.

The mum-of-three was pictured playing teacher as she accompanied beaming pupils from All Souls CE Primary School on the school bus to the event – and helped them draw self-portraits.

[boxout headline=”Timeline of Kate’s health battle & recovery”][/boxout]