Kate Middleton's New Reality: Confronting Her Future Role as Queen 'Sooner Than Expected' (Exclusive)

As she closes the year with her heartwarming Christmas carol service, Kate Middleton is looking ahead and navigating a new reality.

The Dec. 6 service, attended by her husband Prince William, 42, and three children — Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 — was her fourth since 2020. But this year’s event at Westminster Abbey carried added poignancy. It marked her biggest public outing since completing chemotherapy in September after a grueling year defined by health struggles.

“I know how hard it would be to do something like this, putting yourself out there when you may not be feeling 100 percent,” Jenny Powell, a community worker from Abergavenny, Wales, who was among the attendees, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. Kate, 42, in a festive red Alexander McQueen coat and sporting her signature blowout, appeared her usual composed self as she and her family, holding hands, walked down the aisle in front of a crowd of 1,600 guests.

But Princess Kate’s nearly yearlong journey with cancer has brought a profound change beneath the familiar exterior. In a rare and candid moment, British pop star Paloma Faith, who performed at the event, asked Kate how she was doing. “I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had,” Kate said.

As Kate continues her recovery, she’s confronting the looming responsibilities of her future role as Queen. Following Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022, William and Kate found themselves on the brink of the roles of King and Queen. When William’s father, King Charles, 76, revealed his own cancer diagnosis in February — treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer remains ongoing — that position came into sharper focus. Additionally, Queen Camilla, 77, was recently forced to step back from several royal engagements as she battled pneumonia, a further reminder of the family’s vulnerability.

“It has been a hell of a two years for them,” Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles told The Daily Telegraph. “The older you get, the more conscious you become of mortality, especially with illnesses and the rest of it.”

Related: How Kate Middleton's Carol Service Honored Her 'Brutal' Year with Cancer

Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith adds, “Although the King is carrying out his duties with typical determination, he has had to accept limitations during his cancer treatment. As a result William has been taking on more responsibilities, and he and Kate have been preparing for their future roles sooner than they would have expected.”

Adds an insider: “There’s a sense of calm before the storm. They are next in line for the biggest job of their lives, and of course, Kate’s health has taken priority, but it’s also allowed everyone to take a step back and figure out what’s important right now.”

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Plans continue to be made behind the scenes for their eventual succession, a reality Kate is increasingly aware of as she and William navigate their evolving roles. A clear indication of their future came on Dec. 7, when William joined world leaders to attend the official reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on behalf of his father and met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

“I asked him about his wife, and he said she’s doing well. And I asked him about his father, and his father is fighting very hard, and he loves his father, and he loves his wife, so it was sad,” Trump said after their half-hour chat.

The transition to the throne will inevitably come, though it remains a complex and carefully considered path. “It is something the institution is always mindful of,” says a close source of how plans are frequently updated. “It is an institutional preparedness.”

The source adds, “Their circumstances will eventually change. Given what the future holds, it would be very sensible to build back slowly and prioritize family time.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are set to spend Christmas at Sandringham with King Charles. There they’ll participate in the royal family’s celebrations and — hopefully — join in the traditional walk to and from church.

Related: Kate Middleton Joins Prince William amid Her Cancer Recovery to Help Welcome Amir of Qatar

As she navigates her way back to public life, Kate's path won’t be straightforward. The sense is that when she does make public appearances, she will be alongside William, likely joining engagements he was already set to attend as well as landmark royal occasions.

“They can’t raise people’s expectations with lots of engagements only for her to face a setback, not feel well, and things are canceled,” Queen Elizabeth's former press secretary Ailsa Anderson tells PEOPLE. “The strategy of an unexpected visit gives her flexibility. She doesn’t have the pressure of feeling she has to turn up.”

Adds Robert Hardman, author of The Making of a King: Charles III and the Modern Monarchy: “We are being encouraged not to look at this as a chapter that’s over and then it’s back to normal, because cancer doesn’t work like that. The details remain private, but there’s no sense of trying to gloss over the reality that it’s an unpredictable disease.”

For more on Princess Kate’s journey, pick up a copy of PEOPLE on newsstands on Friday

Friends and sources say Kate’s experience has reshaped her focus, both at home and in her approach to royal duties. “Life-threatening illnesses bring a reconsideration of priorities. She and William have always made it clear that family is the most important thing," a source close to the royal household says.

She will return to more public-facing duties when she's ready and her doctors give the go-ahead. A second source close to the household adds, “She has to get back on top of it. And she will if she is left alone to work it out for herself.”

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