Kate Middleton and Jill Biden
Kate Middleton

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is reportedly set to accompany Prince William to Mumbai, India, in November for the 2026 Earthshot Prize Awards, according to a report from the Mirror, in what would mark the couple's first joint international visit since 2023 and Kate's first appearance at the environmental awards ceremony since its second edition in 2022.

Kensington Palace has not officially confirmed Kate's attendance, and did not comment when reached by PEOPLE about the report. If the trip goes ahead as described, it would represent a significant milestone in Kate's ongoing return to public duties following her 2024 cancer diagnosis, for which she announced she was in remission in January 2025.

William launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 as a 10-year initiative aimed at identifying and rewarding solutions to major environmental challenges, with winners across five categories each receiving £1 million, or roughly $1.4 million, to advance their work. Kate attended the inaugural ceremony in London in 2021 and the second edition in Boston in 2022, but has not appeared at the awards since, missing subsequent ceremonies in Singapore in 2023, Cape Town in 2024 and Rio de Janeiro in 2025, a period that overlapped with her cancer treatment and broader step back from public engagements.

According to the Mirror's royal editor, Russell Myers, Kate's involvement in the Earthshot Prize traces back further than her public appearances at the awards themselves. "The secret to the Prince and Princess of Wales' marriage is support for one another," Myers said, crediting Kate as a driving force behind William's decision to launch the initiative in the first place, at a time when he reportedly had doubts about whether it could achieve the scale of global recognition it has since reached.

Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond echoed that assessment in comments to the Mirror, describing the couple's shared commitment to environmental causes as a genuine, mutual passion rather than simply a supportive gesture from Kate toward her husband's work. "They are completely aligned in their love of nature," Bond said, adding that concerns about the natural world and the broader climate crisis matter just as much to Kate personally as they do to William.

Myers went further in characterizing the significance of a potential November trip, describing it as more than just another royal engagement. He said Kate's expected presence in India represents a substantial moment both for her individually and for the couple as a working partnership, framing the visit as an opportunity for renewal following a difficult stretch tied to her health. He added that when the couple appears together on the international stage, their combined presence tends to generate significantly more attention and impact than either would achieve separately.

William announced Mumbai as the 2026 host city during the first Mumbai Climate Week in February, noting that India has produced more Earthshot Prize finalists and winners than any other country to date. "India is one of the world's most important forces for climate and nature," William said at the time, adding that solutions successfully implemented at scale in India carry the potential to inspire similar progress in other parts of the world.

Beyond the Mumbai ceremony itself, the Mirror reported that William and Kate are also likely to spend additional time in Delhi during the trip, at the request of the U.K. government. The visit would echo a prior tour the couple undertook together in 2016, when they traveled to India and Bhutan while still holding the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, including a widely photographed stop at the Taj Mahal.

Kate's expected trip to India follows a successful solo international visit she undertook in May, when she traveled to Reggio Emilia, Italy, for a two-day trip tied to her work on early childhood development, her first solo overseas visit since 2022. A source told Vanity Fair at the time that the Italy trip had served as something of a trial run ahead of a potential second, larger tour later in the year. The Times separately reported that Kate appeared enthusiastic following the Italy trip, reportedly asking on the flight home, "Where next?"

With the Earthshot Prize ceremony still roughly three months away, Kensington Palace has not provided an official itinerary or confirmed guest list for the November events. Should the reported plans move forward, the Mumbai trip would stand as one of the most closely watched royal engagements of the year, offering the clearest public signal yet of Kate's continued return to a fuller schedule of international duties following her recovery.