It will go down as one of the most moving and courageous moments in royal history. Sitting on a park bench in the spring sunshine, in front of a backdrop of daffodils and blossom trees, the Princess of Wales calmly revealed she has cancer.
Having undergone major abdominal surgery, after which she began a course of chemotherapy, and following weeks of worry about her health and how to break the news to her children. All while being the subject of vicious online rumours. Kate, 42, fronted up to the world in a two-minute video with grace and class.
The princess was visibly emotional as she explained that tests showed “cancer had been present” following her surgery for a condition initially believed to be non-cancerous. She also took the time to consider other people coming to terms with the devastating diagnosis.
“For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope,” she said. “You are not alone.”
Despite many expert predictions for 2024 with the royals, it has not been revealed what type of cancer Kate has. However, she has started preventive chemotherapy and says she’s “well and getting stronger every day”.
A friend confides that the princess “wrote every word herself” and royal experts say her message was “word perfect”.
Simon Lewis, a former press secretary for the late Queen, describes Kate’s message as “brave, powerful and dignified”.
“A lot of preparation must have gone into what she wanted to say, which I think came across enormously authentically,” he tells. “It’s unprecedented. I can’t think of another occasion where a member of the royal family has spoken about their health on camera.”
Royal correspondents insist it must have taken enormous courage for Kate to record the message. She’s known to be nervous about speaking publicly and on camera.
“She was so raw – this was very, very personal,” says royal biographer Ingrid Seward. “You could see that she was emotional and I think it was very brave.”
Sources at Kensington Palace reveal that while Kate always intended to make a statement. She waited until her children – Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five – had finished the school term. She did this so she and Prince William could take them away and protect them from the inevitable public shock. The family is now at their country home, Anmer Hall in Norfolk, for the two-week Easter holidays.
Her children were foremost in Kate’s mind when she decided how to tackle publicising the news about her bombshell diagnosis. In her statement, Kate says it came as a huge shock. “William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
She continued, “It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I’m going to be okay.”
Journalist Victoria Newton reveals she was told Kate had decided to film a personal statement two weeks before her cancer was made public. It was shot two days before being released.
“The key thing for her as a mother was protecting her children,” Victoria says. “She didn’t want them going to school being asked even more than they already were. They were being affected at school, so it was always her plan that she would wait until the last day of term.
“Obviously they have endured an incredible amount of social media speculation. That has been really hard for them to handle, but the priority for her was always those children.”
Kate has the unwavering support of her husband William. He is proud of the way she’s dealing with everything, a source told the Telegraph newspaper.
“William is extremely proud of his wife for the courage and strength she has shown. Not only in her bravery at opening up about her cancer diagnosis, but how she handled everything since her surgery in January,” says the insider.
“He has always done all he can to protect his family. Now more than ever he’s focused on ensuring his wife has the privacy she needs to fully recover, and that his children are shielded from the understandable interest in the news that has been shared.”
Kate mentioned William in her statement, saying, “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too.”
The past few months have also been extremely difficult for William, 41. He has dealt with the shock of both his wife and his father King Charles being diagnosed with cancer. All as well as trying to keep life as normal as possible for his children and carry out his royal duties with the utmost professionalism.
It’s believed the reason William pulled out of a memorial service for his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece, on February 27, was because of the news he received about Kate. He was back at work two days later.
The day after the video was released, Kate and William put out a joint statement saying they were both “enormously touched” by the kind messages they had received.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of Charles, 75, who is also undergoing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer – another victim to the royal recovery crisis. It said His Majesty was “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did”. And, following their time in hospital together he has “remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law”.
The palace statement went on to say, “Both Their Majesties will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time.”
According to some sources, when they were both recovering from surgery at the London Clinic in January, the King put on his dressing gown and “toddled over” to visit Kate.
Charles and the princess met for lunch at Windsor Castle the day before the announcement about her illness was made. The Monarch was “very emotional” after they’d had a heart-to-heart talk.
“They are very close and he thinks of her as his daughter,” says a palace insider. “There’s no doubt there is a lot they can share and they can use each other for support during their own deeply personal cancer battles. They can empathise with what they are going through, which does help at a difficult time like this.”
Kate’s parents Michael, 74, and Carole Middleton, 69, and siblings Pippa, 40, and James, 36 – have also rallied around to offer their love and support. Especially when it comes to looking after George, Charlotte and Louis.
The Middletons rarely comment on anything to do with Kate or the royals. Although, on this occasion her younger brother James did post a childhood photo with Kate on a hiking trip on social media. He wrote, “Over the years, we have climbed many mountains with you. As a family, we will climb this one with you too.”
William’s brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, issued a brief media statement. They said they wished “health and healing” to the princess and her family. They said they also hoped she was able to do so “privately and in peace”.
It’s understood Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, also reached out privately to Kate and William. They found out about Kate having cancer through the video message along with the rest of the world.
While it was Kate’s decision to make the video, several of her friends have spoken out about their anger that she had to reveal so much. All thanks to the rampant social media speculation about what had happened to her.
“I feel like the whole world has been gossiping about her. There is so much rubbish out there about her and her family,” one told the Sunday Times newspaper. “It was almost desperate that she had to do it.”
And sadly, even after the release of the video, nasty conspiracy theories have continued to circulate online. Some include claims that it’s a “deepfake”.
That is “revictimising” Kate, says Imran Ahmed, the CEO for the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. He says she’s being blamed for not revealing her cancer diagnosis immediately.
“It’s the inhumanity of the way social media has made us behave. It forces us to talk about things that are deeply personal,” he notes.
Veteran photographer Arthur Edwards, who has been taking pictures of the royal family for nearly 50 years, says he was disgusted with the many “ludicrous and vile” claims made about Kate.
“I hope the madness and speculation will end so she can be left alone with her husband and family. At least while she makes a full recovery in her own time,” says Arthur. “The trolls must stop being vicious and nasty.
“She’s done her very best to keep us informed. It took her a lot of courage to do that. Now she needs to be able to concentrate on getting better.”
