Editor’s Note: This is a version of CNN’s Royal News, a weekly show that brings you insider information about the British royal family. Register here.

London
CNN
—

Catherine, Princess of Wales, wowed royal watchers this week with an unexpected appearance alongside her husband, Prince William.

The pair appeared on Thursday in Southport, a town in northwest England where the community is still mourning after the murders of three young girls this summer.

William and Kate are understood to have spent around 90 minutes with the families of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, who lost their lives in July during a Taylor Swift concert was attacked. Themed dance course.

It was also an opportunity for the couple to sit down with some of the emergency workers who responded to the scene and hear about their experiences and the mental health support they have received in the months since.

It was an emotional conversation in which the Princess expressed her gratitude to first responders before comforting and hugging some of those struggling with the traumatic effects of the incident.

“The Princess of Wales broke off and came back into the building to hug the people who had responded because she could see the emotions in them and realized it was difficult for them to express how they felt and say how “The events were influential,” said Phil Garrigan, Chief Fire Officer of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, after the operation, according to the British news agency PA Media.

“I think it just shows a really caring side and is very, very touching for her.”

It was a big moment for the popular 42-year-old queen – her first public appearance since completing chemotherapy.

Royal sources told CNN that the Princess’s decision to accompany William on the visit was not a last-minute call and that she wanted to do so to express her support, empathy and compassion to the local community in the coastal city bring to.

But wanting to be there and implementing the commitment are two very different things. Ultimately, whether she felt good enough that day depended on her appearance.

King Charles visited the area back in August and it’s clear that the royal family doesn’t want the city to feel forgotten as the weeks and months go by.

The Southport engagement was designed to be a low-profile event and had not previously been announced to the public or press. However, it tacitly confirmed the princess’s own words from a month ago when she announced she had completed her cancer treatment.

In a video message, Kate had delighted royal fans by saying she was looking forward to “getting back to work in the coming months and taking on a few more public engagements when I can.”

Since then she has held private meetings on some of her projects at Windsor Castle and made some private visits. All of this suggests that her recovery is progressing well.

While aides don’t want to jeopardize her recovery by urging her to appear before she’s ready, the Princess of Wales’s latest appearance shows she’s back at work, steadily increasing her workload as she goes from strength to strength .

This all means that she will likely keep her workload lighter and that we will continue to see these unexpected pop-ups as she makes engagement decisions on a case-by-case basis every day. And if all goes well, that could mean she gets busier in the new year and maybe even starts traveling again.