It’s been a tumultuous year for the Princess of Wales, to say the least, but while the royal retreated from public gaze to begin her chemotherapy treatment, she still managed to stay in public conversation and that spotlight has seen her earn a spot on Time magazine’s Person of the Year shortlist.
Time has published its annual Person of the Year cover every December since 1927, honouring a person or a group of people, for their contributions—good or bad—to the public discourse over the past year. Queen Elizabeth II received the honour in 1952.
On Monday, the magazine shared its shortlist and announced that Catherine is among the finalists.
Time writes that Catherine’s health scare “made international headlines this year and stirred a conversation about privacy and health for public figures” as conspiracy theorists ran wild with ideas that she had been injured, harmed, or kept away from the public by a jealous husband (all eyeroll inducing allegations that have since been proven to be false).
Catherine spent much of the year out of the public eye, popping up at major royal events as her health allowed.
In January, Kensington Palace shared that the future queen had undergone planned abdominal surgery for a still-undisclosed ailment and would be on rest until after the Easter holidays.
In the weeks after the surgery though, conspiracy theorists began wondering if there were nefarious reasons behind Catherine’s lack of public appearances, even though, by all accounts, she was maintaining the timeline provided by the palace.
On Mothering Sunday, she released a photograph of herself with her three children and it was revealed that it had been edited—causing publications to issue kill notices against using the photo—and quickly followed it up with an apology for a touch of amateur editing before its release.
At the end of March, Catherine shocked the world with the release of a video statement announcing that cancer had been found in post-surgery testing and that she would begin, at the urging of her doctors, a round of preventative chemotherapy treatments.
While she disappeared from the public in order to receive treatment, Catherine did appear at Trooping the Colour and weeks later at the Wimbledon finals.
At the end of summer, she released another video message announcing that her chemotherapy treatment had ended. “Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,” she said. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”
She also shared that she would carry out public engagements “when I can” and looked forward to returning to work. Her main focus in the fall was the Together at Christmas carol service, which happened last Friday at Westminster Abbey and will be broadcast on Christmas Eve.
Catherine was previously a runner-up for Person of the Year in 2011, with Time writing that she “finds herself a role model whose most pressing task is to define the nature and meaning of the role. If she becomes as popular as Diana, her choices may help the monarchy thrive or bring it to its knees. Whatever she decides — however she goes about the business of being royal — Britain’s second most famous princess is already being watched and emulated across the world.”
Catherine joins President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, Yulia Navalnaya, Jerome Powell, Joe Rogan and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the short list.
Time’s Person of the Year will be announced on Thursday 12 December.
