Prince William and Kate Middleton are responding to the public's overwhelming support after the Princess of Wales announced she has been diagnosed with cancer.
"The Prince and Princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message,” according to a Kensington Palace statement provided to Us Weekly on Saturday, March 23. “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.”
On Friday, March 22, the princess announced she has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments following her surgery and brief hospitalization.
"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London, and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous," she said in an emotional video shared by Kensington Palace. "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."
The royal family has been under intense public scrutiny after the princess underwent unspecified abdominal surgery in January. Absent from the public eye, everyone from Stephen Colbert to the White House press secretary commented on the situation, which hit a fever pitch in March after Kensington Palace released a doctored photograph of the princess on Mother's Day in the UK.
In her video announcement, the princess said that her diagnosis came as a "huge shock," but that her and Prince William plan to "manage this privately" for the sake of their three children—Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment,” she said. “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.”
According to a source who spoke with Us Weekly, the princess received her diagnosis last month, on the same day Prince William canceled his planned appearance at a memorial service for his godfather King Constantine of Greece due to “personal reasons.”
“They have been processing the information,” the source told the publication at the time. “They wanted to wait to tell the world the news until their children were off school for the Easter break so they could have time to process the news before the whole world was talking about (it).”
While Kensington Palace initially stated that the princess would make a public appearance after Easter, after making her announcement it's understood that Middleton and her family will skip Easter services at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
