Kensington Palace released a video message from The Princess of Wales today, March 22, in which she announces that she has began cancer treatment following major abdominal surgery earlier this year.
In the video, Catherine says:
I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from 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.
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.
This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing 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 is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.
As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.
We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.
I wish to say that I am sending support to Catherine and her family during this moment and I hope that she is able to fully recover and that her preventative treatments work. Cancer is a particularly heartbreaking subject for me as in my family the word “cancer” is a death sentence. Every family member who has been diagnosed with cancer has passed away because of it.
This news is devastating for Catherine and her family, particularly her very young children (3 children 10 and under). I have not been blogging nor following closely the atrocious speculating and conspiracy theorizing that has taken place online since she announced her surgery because it caused me far too much mental anguish to see so many people react so poorly to her request for medical privacy.
But I wish a giant FUCK YOU to everyone who speculated, made fun of, created conspiracy theories around her “disappearance”, her marriage, her mother’s day photo, etc. Are you happy now? Are you happy knowing you forced a woman to reveal a devastating cancer diagnosis most likely before she was ready all to appease your BS?
My mother had cancer, my mother had a major abdominal surgery that ended very poorly. All of this BS surrounding Catherine’s surgery and now diagnosis is extremely triggering for my mental health and I am appalled by the lack of decorum and basic human decency from people.
I know that in the past, a decade ago, I participated in some pretty “lack of decorum” discussion around these parts but I’ve lived a lot of life since then. I have had to answer to myself for how I behaved and what I said in the past, and I’ve learned from all of that and become a better person because of it, so now I say to everyone out there who treated Catherine and William like shit the last 3 months… you are disgusting.
