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The Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnosis shocked the world, but the couple are focused on their young family, says royal correspondent
IT IS THE NEWS no parent wants to have to tell their children, yet the Princess of Wales also had to deliver it to the world. Undoubtedly, her cancer diagnosis sent shockwaves around the globe. But with her customar y grace and poise the princess also wanted to reassure in her video message, explaining her recent abdominal surgery, absence from public life and subsequent cancer treatment.
‘I am going to be OK,’ she told us, just as she would have reassured George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and little Louis, five. ‘I am well and getting stronger every day.’
There is no doubt that a rod of iron runs through Kate. But even for the strongest of women, having to tell her young family of a cancer diagnosis and necessar y chemotherapy treatment (with ever ything that entails) is utterly heartbreaking.
She said she’d kept the news private ‘for the sake of our young family’, her voice cracking slightly as she referred to her children. Yet it was entirely characteristic of the princess, 42, that she signed off her extremely personal address with thoughts of others. ‘For ever yone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.’
She had chosen to wait until after her children had broken up for the school holidays to release the news, so the family could retreat to the privacy of Anmer Hall in Norfolk.
Prince William has been by her side every step of the way. The only reason he was not sitting alongside her during that message was because she wanted to do it on her own.
Having endured his parents’ bitter break-up and divorce as a child, the death of his mother aged 15 and the effective loss of his younger brother Harry, William now has the ultimate supporting role for his father, wife and children. A friend says, ‘It has been an incredibly tough time for both of them, but their absolute priority is their three children. Very few people, aside from their innermost circle, knew about Catherine’s illness and it was a huge shock even to her friends and some family when she announced it.’
She has a tight support network – including her mother Carole Middleton, who has helped on the school run and been with her daughter at the children’s sports matches and lessons in recent weeks. Kate’s loyal PA and stylist Natasha Archer has been by her side for medical appointments, while brother James and sister Pippa, who both live nearby in Berkshire, have supported her with playdates, phone calls and home-cooked meals. Alongside a sweet childhood snap, James posted
