It's set to be a special week for the Princess of Wales, who turns 43 on Thursday. After spending the festive period with her family in Norfolk, her children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - are preparing to return to school.
This year's birthday carries a deeper significance following the health challenges Kate has faced in what her husband the Prince of Wales recently described as a "brutal" year.
© GettyThe royal couple will be keen to make the most of their family time while they can before William becomes King.
However, with this change on the horizon, both William and Kate will be making sure they make the transition smooth for the sake of their young family.
"Kate knows there is a looming, massive responsibility coming, but she can't do anything about that, so she just needs to make sure that the family she's bringing up are able to deal with it," says Ingrid Seward, whose book My Mother and I examines the relationship between the King and his mother.
"It must have been very difficult for her to deal with her family and her illness at the same time, and she obviously realises that the children have been through a hard time too.
"I think the illness has made her keen to prioritise her family even more, because they are the future. Obviously, she wants to support her husband and the monarchy, but she's going to make sure that she does it in such a way that it doesn't take her away from the family too much.
© Getty"She is very embedded in the future now, and the things that are really important in life, like her children and her charity work, really resonate and become even more important.
"Being so ill teaches you to enjoy each day as it comes, so I think she has a new appreciation of What's going on around her, and what she can do to make life better for other people as well."
© GettySo, although Kate has stayed in close contact with aides and the team working on her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, she has also been working to build her fitness, spending time in the gym as well as outdoors in nature.
She and William relax by watching films and TV and have been enjoying cosy nights watching the Netflix thriller Black Doves.
