Kate and Prince William release new statement after cancer announcement
Kate, Princess of Wales, and Prince William have released a new statement this weekend following Kate’s shocking cancer announcement Friday.
After weeks of speculation on social media, Kate, 42, released a candid video message Friday that said she is undergoing "preventative chemotherapy" for cancer following major abdominal surgery.
"It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful," she said in a video released by the palace.
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"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London, and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful; however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team, therefore, advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I am now in the early stages of that treatment."
Kate continued, "This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing absolutely everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time; 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’s appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK."
Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Mia Tindall attend Christmas Morning Service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023 in Sandringham, Norf
Her announcement drew reactions and well wishes worldwide, with many people stopping by Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle to show support and leave flowers. The White House, King Charles III, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Kate’s in-laws, Harry and Meghan, have all released statements in support of Kate and William.
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On Saturday, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace released the following statement:
"The prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the U.K., across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message. They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time."
Kate Middleton’s disappearance
Full video: Kate Middleton confirms cancer diagnosis
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, said Friday she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The video announcement came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.
The internet began to speculate about Kate's "disappearance," after she had been largely missing from the public eye since Christmas day.
Search terms like "Kate Middleton’s health" and "Where is Kate Middleton?" spiked over the last several weeks.
A flurry of claims emerged on sites like X, formerly known as Twitter, and TikTok, with users speculating about the royal's whereabouts and her health condition.
A UK Mother’s Day photo shared on the princess’s Instagram account was supposed to reassure the public, but it only made things worse after The Associated Press and other news agencies retracted it over manipulation concerns.
Kate later apologized in a post on social media and said "like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing."
"I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused," the post said.
Even a video published last week by The Sun and TMZ that appeared to show Kate and William shopping near their home did not dispel the negative coverage.
Paddy Harverson, previously the official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the speculation and pressure around Kate's health and whereabouts before her video statement was "the worst I’ve ever seen."
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However, he said he thought Kate would have revealed her cancer diagnosis exactly as she had, regardless of what was being speculated.
"I’m absolutely convinced that if we hadn’t had all the madness and social media, if we hadn’t had the sort of the Mother’s Day photo mistake, they would have still done it like this," he told the BBC. "They would have still waited till this last Friday when the schools are breaking up to make the announcement."
FOX’s Stephanie Weaver and The Associated Press contributed to this report.