Princess Kate Middleton is choosing happiness with husband Prince William and their three children on the couple’s wedding anniversary.

“She remains a ray of light in what can often be a suffocatingly stuffy environment behind palace walls,” royal author Christopher Andersen exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, April 29, which marks 13 years of marriage for the couple.The couple’s anniversary has also been “bittersweet” for the Prince and Princess of Wales, 42, according to Andersen, who pointed out that the special day comes one week after the family toasted Prince Louis’ sixth birthday. Louis is the youngest child of William and Kate, who also share Prince George, 10, and Princess Charlotte, 8.

“When they celebrated their 12th anniversary by releasing a photo of themselves smiling broadly on bicycles, no one could have imagined that a year later both Kate and the king would be battling cancer,” Andersen told Us, referring to King Charles III’s own cancer fight, which he shared publicly in February.

Despite all the royal family’s recent highs and lows, William and Kate appear to be navigating their new normal as best as possible. That means keeping up with their “tradition to stick close to home” on their anniversary.

According to Andersen, the pair usually exchange “gifts laden with sentiment.” In 2023, William gifted his wife “a diamond ring that had belonged to his [late] mother, Princess Diana, and a replica of Kate’s wedding bouquet,” the royal expert revealed.