Live updates: Catherine, Princess of Wales, reveals she has cancer
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has been diagnosed with cancer and has started chemotherapy, she announced in a video message on Friday, describing the past two months as “incredibly difficult for our whole family.”
Her diagnosis follows that of King Charles III, who announced his own cancer diagnosis and treatment in early February. It comes after a period of intense uncertainty about the health of Catherine, who suffered this abdominal surgery in January and largely disappeared from public view as she tried to recover.
Like the king, Catherine, 42, has not specified what type of cancer she has, but she has asked the public and news media to respect her desire for privacy.
“We hope you understand that as a family we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment,” said Catherine, wife of Prince William and a future queen.
“This obviously came as a huge shock,” said Catherine, “and William and I have done everything we can to process and manage this privately, for the sake of our young family. You can imagine that this took time.”
Catherine’s announcement is a grim coda to a period of increasingly wild rumors about her health and well-being. But it plunges the British royal family into a period of even deeper uncertainty, facing both the 75-year-old monarch and his daughter-in-law, the wife of his eldest son and heir and the mother of Prince George, second in line to the throne. with serious health problems.
In her statement, Catherine said that at the time her surgery was performed, doctors believed her condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful, she said, but on further tests the doctor found evidence of cancer. They recommended chemotherapy, which she said she had recently started.
“It took me time to recover from major surgery before I could start my treatment,” Catherine said in the video. “But most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that suits them, and to reassure them that I will be fine.”
Catherine’s announcement was an eerie echo of Charles’s. Buckingham Palace said the king’s cancer was discovered following a procedure for an enlarged prostate. While the palace has said he does not have prostate cancer, it has not specified what type of cancer it is or what his prognosis is.
Until Catherine’s video on Friday, Kensington Palace, where William and Catherine have their offices, had released fewer details about her condition, an information vacuum that led to a series of rumors and conspiracy theories on social media.
In the video, which Kensington Palace said was recorded by the BBC in Windsor on Wednesday, Catherine can be seen sitting outside on a bench, with daffodils and trees blooming behind her.
With her hands folded in her lap, she begins by thanking the audience for their messages of support and understanding while she was recovering from surgery, before announcing her diagnosis.
“In January I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time my condition was thought to be benign. The operation was successful,” she says. “However, tests after the operation revealed that cancer was present. My medical team therefore recommended that I undergo a preventive course of chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.”
Catherine’s statement emphasized the importance of her three children and their well-being as a key factor in the timing of the announcement. “As I told them,” she said, “I am doing well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirit. It is also a great source of comfort and reassurance to have William by my side.”
The children’s school has now been split up for the Easter holidays. A Kensington Palace official said Catherine and William wanted to share the information when they felt it was right for them as a family.
Catherine ended her video statement with a message for other people affected by a cancer diagnosis. “At this time I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been touched by cancer,” she said. “To anyone facing this disease in any form, please do not lose faith and hope. You are not alone.”