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By CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London

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Catherine, Princess of Wales delighted royal-watchers this week with an unexpected appearance alongside her husband, Prince William. 
 
The couple popped up in Southport, a town in the northwest of England, on Thursday, where the community is still grieving after the murders of three young girls this summer. 
 
William and Kate are thought 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 when they were attacked while attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

It was also an opportunity for the pair to sit down with some of the emergency services personnel 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 that saw the princess express the couple's gratitude to the first responders, before comforting and hugging some of those grappling with the traumatic impact of the incident. 

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"The Princess of Wales broke off and came back into the building to give a hug to the people who responded because she could see the emotion in them and could see it was difficult for them to relay their feelings and to say how impactful events have been," Phil Garrigan, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, explained after the engagement, according to the UK's PA Media news agency. 

"I think that just shows a really caring side and is very, very touching for them."
 
It was a big moment for the popular 42-year-old royal -- her first public outing since wrapping up her chemotherapy treatment. 
 
Royal sources told CNN that the princess' decision to join William for the visit was not a last-minute call and that she wanted to do it to offer her support, empathy and compassion to the local community in the seaside town. 
 
But wanting to be there and carrying out the engagement are two very different things. Ultimately, her appearance came down to whether she felt well enough on the day. 
 
King Charles previously visited the area in August and it's clear that the royal family don't want the town to feel forgotten as the weeks and months pass. 

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The Southport engagement was designed to be a low-key event and, in fact, had not been previously announced either to the public or the press. However, it quietly supported the princess' own words from a month ago when she revealed she had completed her cancer treatment.
 
In a video message, Kate had thrilled royal fans by saying she was "looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can."
 
Since then, she's carried out private meetings on some of her projects at Windsor Castle and made a few private visits. It all signals that her recovery is going well. 
 
While aides would not want to jeopardize her recovery by pushing her to appear before she's ready, the Princess of Wales' latest appearance shows that she's back at work, steadily increasing her workload while she continues to get stronger. 
 
This all means she's likely to keep her workload lighter and that we'll continue to see these unexpected pop-ups as she makes daily decisions on engagements on a case-by-case basis. And if all continues well, it could mean she takes on more in the new year and perhaps, even, starts traveling again.

Read more on Kate's surprise engagement here. 

King Charles to miss key summit.

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King Charles III will not be heading to Azerbaijan when the COP29 climate conference kicks off next month, CNN understands. For a leading advocate on eco-issues for the past five decades, you would have thought that the annual international climate summit convened by the United Nations, which takes place between November 11 and 22, would be a staple of Charles' calendar. However, he will be absent from proceedings in the major oil and gas producing nation.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that his attendance or otherwise is decided on the advice of the government. But there's also another pretty straightforward reason behind the decision: timing. While he has often attended the climate summit in years gone by, this year is a bit tricky for Charles as it takes place just two weeks after his trip to Australia and Samoa. In a normal year, the King might well have opted to do back-to-back trips, but this isn't a normal year.

 
The visit - which gets underway on October 18 -- will be Charles' first long-haul journey since his cancer diagnosis, with aides and doctors keen to ensure it isn't too taxing on the monarch. Charles has been receiving outpatient treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since earlier this year. Modifications have been made to his itinerary and a stop to New Zealand was deemed by his medical team a bit too much to take on. 

William makes personal request for a new Bourne film. 

Prince William revealed that he is a big fan of the Bourne movie franchise when he met film director Paul Greengrass at the headquarters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London this week. The prince was meeting recipients of a BAFTA fund in his name as part of a special showcase of the next generation of film, games and TV talent, co-hosted with the Royal African Society. Greengrass, who directed three of the Bourne films, gave the founding donation for the Prince William BAFTA Bursary Fund in 2021.

Upon meeting the award-winning director, William clasped his hands, saying, "another Bourne, another Bourne," according to PA. Greengrass disclosed that although he considers himself too old to direct another film in the action thriller franchise, William might yet be in luck: "I hope they get somebody great and young to do it, I think they're in the process," the 69-year-old director said.

William told screenwriter and actor Stephen Merchant, who was also at the event, that he was a fan of his latest project, "The Outlaws," saying "I think we have a similar sense of humor." 

BAFTA's bursary program nurtures creative talent across a range of disciplines, including students from the National Film and Television School. Actress Celia Imrie, who was also at the event, told the prince that she started her career as a chorus girl, so she knows "how important it is to go up the ladder."

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Much-celebrated royal photographer dies aged 85.

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Anwar Hussein, the renowned royal photographer who captured some of the most unforgettable photos of Princess Diana over the course of her life, has died at age 85. 

Hussein's career started with him snapping pop icons, but he quickly became one of the most successful royal photographers -- despite a frosty reception from some in the industry, as he told CNN earlier this year.  

"At first, some told me 'you can't do pictures of royals,'" Hussein told CNN in May, ahead of the launch of a new London exhibition displaying his most celebrated work, including images of Diana's "revenge dress" that broke royal protocol and her handshake with an AIDs patient that made headlines around the world. "I said, 'Why not? I want a change.' I was doing rock and roll pictures -- Bob Marley, Elton John, the Beatles. And then I got fed up with show business," he added. 

Hussein's approach to photography was a step change from previous royal snappers, becoming known for his more relaxed style to capture candid shots of the Windsors during their most intimate moments.  

In a statement to CNN, Hussein's family said they were "completely heartbroken" at his passing but were "grateful that he lived a full and amazing life, always on his own terms." 

"His photographic career took him beyond his wildest dreams, from his early days growing up in Tanzania to capturing the world of royalty, rock and cinema," the family statement said. "We are all so proud of his incredible body of iconic work.  We take great comfort in the knowledge that his images will be enjoyed by generations to come. Anwar leaves an incredible legacy to his wife, children and grandchildren. He will live on in all of us."  

His two sons have taken after their late father, becoming popular royal photographers in their own right.  

Read more about Hussein's life and legacy here.

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Happy birthday to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who turned 89 on Wednesday. To mark the occasion, he was serenaded by three pipers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards at Kensington Palace. The duke was the late Queen's cousin and is the oldest working royal in the family. 

At his side was his wife, Katharine, Duchess of Kent, who made a rare appearance to watch the performance. The couple were joined by the duke's younger brother, Prince Michael of Kent, and their son, Nicholas Windsor.  The pipers played a variety of pieces including a rendition of "Happy Birthday," as well as "Hills of Biggar" and a medley of famous Scottish tunes.

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala last Saturday sporting a reworked red Carolina Herrera dress that she debuted at a gala in New York three years ago.

While resurfacing wardrobe relics is a fairly common experience for the everyman or woman, it is a more conscious choice for those in the public eye. Lately, in a push to ignite debate on sustainability in fashion, A-listers such as Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow and Billie Eilish have elected to recycle old outfits on red carpets. 

Read more about Meghan's gala appearance here. 

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Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, traveled to Malta this week to celebrate the island's 60th year of independence and explore the long history of collaboration between Malta, the UK and the royal family. During the four-day visit, Edward and Sophie visited Villa Guardamangia, where the late Queen lived with Prince Philip between 1949 and 1951, when they themselves were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. 

Later on, the couple viewed artifacts at the country's National Library, including a letter signed by Queen Elizabeth II inaugurating Malta's first parliament in 1964, when the island gained independence from Britain, before visiting the Anglican Pro-Cathedral, where the late Prince Philip was a patron. They finished their trip by attending the King's Birthday Reception, where they met young people from across the country.  

"She became an integral part of the fabric of our nation; her extraordinary resilience and courage an example to us all, which will never be forgotten."

– King Charles III

The British monarch has paid tribute to Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert after her death at the age of 100. She died peacefully at home surrounded by family, according to her great-grandson Dov Forman on Wednesday. Ebert was a survivor of the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp, where her mother, sister and a brother all perished. Her story went viral four years ago when, after nearly eight decades, she met the family of the American GI who liberated her. In January 2023, she was recognized with an MBE for her services to Holocaust education. Read the King's full message here.

CNN's Billy Stockwell and Kathy Rose O'Brien contributed to this newsletter.