At one end of the majestic St. George’s Hall in Windsor Castle stood a 20-ft. Christmas tree glittering with thousands of lights — but it was Kate Middleton who shone the brightest as she swept into the Dec. 3 state banquet on the arm of Prince William.

Delivering a festive flourish, Kate wore Queen Victoria’s 172-year-old Oriental Circlet tiara—the largest and grandest she has ever debuted. Once worn by Victoria herself and later by Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother, the circlet has long been believed to be
reserved for Queens and future Queens under the terms of Victoria’s will. “It’s magnificent, historic and significant,” says Sally Bedell Smith, the royal biographer behind the Royals Extra Substack.

As Princess Kate reaches the end of the year marked by recovery and a gradual reclaiming of her role and confidence, the symbolism was unmistakable. “She looks like our idea of a future Queen,” royal biographer Catherine Mayer says in this week’s issue of PEOPLE.

The December state banquet for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife marked the couple’s third of the year, placing William and Kate, both 43, front and center as they’ve helped woo and influence visiting world leaders, including President Donald Trump in September. “They are becoming the face of state visits. They are taking on a leadership role,” says royal historian Amanda Foreman.

Adds Mayer: “William and Kate are showcased as being not just the future of the monarchy but its absolute heart.”

This defining year began with Kate’s Jan. 14 announcement of her remission from an undisclosed form of cancer and continued with a measured return to public life. She resumed elements of her early-childhood advocacy work while taking restorative breaks with her children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 —  including a long summer to rebuild her strength and an autumn move to an eight-bedroom home, Forest Lodge in Windsor, where the family now intend to remain even after William becomes King.

Through it all, she and William balanced expanding royal duties with school runs and family life, even as illness still shadows the monarchy: King Charles, 77, continues treatment for cancer, though he shared in a rare health update on Dec. 12 that his regimen will be “reduced” in the New Year. The hopeful development underscores the magnitude of the role Kate and William will one day inherit.

Kate’s gradual reemergence follows not only the intrusive scrutiny of her own diagnosis but the grueling treatment itself — and the fortitude it took to come through it. “This is someone who stared down the abyss,” Foreman says.

By the time she shared the news of her cancer diagnosis publicly in March 2024 — after preparing her children — she had weathered weeks of speculation and online conspiracy theories about her whereabouts and well-being.

“She didn’t just face a life-­ threatening illness — the global Internet went after her,” Foreman adds. “It was a character assassination.”

Through it all, Kate has revealed just enough of herself to reassure the public while deliberately keeping her most private emotions protected — a boundary she maintains with care.

“She has that steeliness and that tremendous charm and that smile,” Foreman tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “It’s the combination of a willingness to show vulnerability but at the same time not being vulnerable.”

After announcing her remission at the hospital where she’d been treated — even sharing candid stories of her chemotherapy sessions with fellow patients — Kate eased back into public life at her own pace, focusing on the causes closest to her heart.

Her longstanding early-years mission remained a priority even during her illness. On Nov. 18, she widened the initiative’s reach at the Future Workforce Summit in London, alongside 80 business leaders and academics. “Early-childhood development is not glamorous. It’s quiet and privately done, and the lack of resources doesn’t get a lot of attention,” Harvard University’s Professor Robert Waldinger, who cowrote an essay with Kate, tells PEOPLE. “What she’s doing by lending her voice to this is huge. Bringing in business leaders who can make a difference is an incredible way to use the platform she has.”

From early-childhood development to addiction support and the healing effects of nature, Kate continued championing the issues she has long cared about — all while prioritizing the needs of George, Charlotte and Louis, including settling them into their new home in November as William traveled to Brazil for the Earthshot Prize.

Those close to the couple say Kate and William have emerged more connected than ever. After more than 20 years together, they’ve shown unmistakable shifts in their dynamic — gentle touches, shared smiles, hands resting at each other’s backs.

“What they have been through over the last few years has been so terrible,” Foreman says. “That either drives couples apart, or, in their case, it brings them together. It irons out the kinks and enables them to see each other clearly.”

As they prepare for Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham, notable absences loom. Despite Prince Harry reuniting with his father Charles in September, the estrangement between the brothers remains. And William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — renamed after Charles moved to strip his royal titles over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein) — remains on the periphery.

“[That move] was as much from William, and William and Kate are not seen as separate in terms of their decision-making,” says Mayer.

But even as those tensions persist, the Waleses are looking ahead — especially when it comes to preparing their children for what’s next. For George, that means an expected move to boarding school next fall and a gentle introduction to the duties that await him. He joined Kate at the Festival of Remembrance on Nov. 8 and earlier in the year attended a tea party for veterans marking VE Day.

There is also hope that 2026 will see William and Kate return to the global stage for their first overseas joint visit since before Kate’s illness, with an invitation to Australia already extended and speculation about a potential U.S. trip on the horizon.

“Now that she has begun to turn a corner, they will be deploying her as much as they can,” says Bedell Smith. “It’s important for them to be at the center of the action.”

Still, Kate is choosing how and when she steps forward — and home is where she has found her steadier rhythm.

“She is in this confident phase where she is able to define who she is, what she does and how much she does,” says Mayer. “In that sense, she’s approaching her prime.”