Kate, the Princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince William, are said to be "extremely moved" by the public's warmth and support following her shocking cancer announcement as tributes continued to pour in from around the world.
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After weeks of frenzied speculation on social media about her health and well-being, Kate said in a candid video message on Friday that she is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer following major abdominal surgery. The 42-year-old princess said the cancer discovery was a "huge shock" and she was now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy.
"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," a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said on Sunday.
"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."
There has been a global outpouring of support, including from US President Joe Biden, and King Charles III who is also undergoing treatment for cancer. Neither Kate nor the king have revealed what type of cancer they have or the stage at which it was being treated.
People have flocked to the royal's main London residence, Kensington Palace, as well as to Windsor Castle, where they spend most of their time, to show support for the princess, with many leaving flowers.
Until Friday, officials had only said Kate's surgery in January was successful and recuperation would keep the princess away from public duties until April. This has sparked a flurry of rumour-mongering about the "missing" future queen, compounded after Kate acknowledged that she altered an official photo released to mark Mother's Day in the UK earlier this month.
The photo, meant to reassure the public, triggered 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 jumping to sometime-outlandish conclusions continued to be voiced over the weekend.
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."
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."
Australian Associated Press
