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LONDON (AP) — Kate, Princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince William, are said to be “extremely moved” by the public’s warmth and support following their shocking cancer announcement, as tributes continued to pour in on Sunday from around the world.
After weeks of frantic speculation on social media about her health and well-being, Kate said in a candid video message on Friday that she is going through chemotherapy for cancer next highest abdominal surgery. The 42-year-old princess said the discovery of cancer was a “huge shock” and that she was now in the early stages of preventive chemotherapy.
“The prince and princess are hugely touched by the kind messages from people here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’s message,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson said. “They are very touched by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for their understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”
There has been an outpouring of global support, including from US President Joe Biden, and King Charles III who is also receiving treatment for cancer, which was discovered after he was receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate. Neither Kate nor the king have revealed what type of cancer they have or what stage it was being treated at.
Charles’s nephew, Peter Phillips, said the king is “frustrated” that his recovery is taking longer than he “would have liked,” but that he was in “good spirits” and “putting pressure” on his staff to be able to return to his duties after beginning cancer treatment last month.
“I think ultimately he’s hugely frustrated,” Phillips, son of Charles’ sister Princess Anne, told Sky News Australia. “He’s frustrated because he can’t move forward and do everything he wants. But he is very pragmatic, he understands that there is a period of time when he really needs to focus on himself.”
People continued to flock to London’s main royal residence, Kensington Palace, as well as to to Windsor Castle, where they spend most of their time, to show their support for the princess, and many leave flowers.
Until Friday, officials had only said that Kate’s surgery in January was successful and that recovery would keep the princess away from public duties until April. This has caused a wave of spread rumors about the “missing” future queen, aggravated after Kate acknowledged that she altered an official photo released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK earlier this month.
The photo, intended to reassure the public, sparked a backlash after The Associated Press and other news agencies retracted it over manipulation concerns.
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.
Criticism of those who reached sometimes extravagant conclusions continued over the weekend.
Paddy Harverson, previously an official spokesman for Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the speculation and pressure about Kate’s health and whereabouts before her video statement was “the worst I have ever seen in my life.”
However, he said he thought Kate would have revealed her cancer diagnosis exactly as she did, regardless of what was speculated.
“I’m absolutely convinced that if we hadn’t had all the madness and social media, if we hadn’t had the kind of Mother’s Day photo error, they would still have done it like that,” he told the BBC. “They still would have waited until last Friday, when schools are separating, to make the announcement.”