Prince William is doing his best to be a supportive husband, father and son amid Kate MiddletonThe recent revelation of his cancer diagnosis, which comes almost two months after his father’s, King Charles IIIalso revealed his own cancer diagnosis.
But a sense of optimism hovers over Kensington Palace, as royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET that there are good signs indicating that Kate’s fight with cancer is something the royal family will overcome.
“The palace tells us that Kate is upbeat and in good spirits,” Nicholl said. “I hope the same can be said for Prince William, but it is clear he will be desperately worried. This is his wife, his partner of some 20 years. The mother of his three beautiful young children.”
It is like Kate leans on William for support Amid these turbulent times, the same can be said of his father, Charles.
“There is enormous pressure on the Prince of Wales. Not only does he have to defend his father and support his father and the queen, but now he has to look after his wife,” says Nicholl. “Let’s hope she tolerates this chemotherapy well. There’s every chance she will. I think people hear the word ‘chemotherapy’ and they always think the worst. But there’s every chance she could undergo this treatment, like she said the surgery has been successful. And knowing the couple, they always try to find the positive in everything. So I think they will feel shocked, yes, but also positive.”
On a statement on cameraKate shared that after her abdominal surgery, the procedure was thought to be non-cancerous, but tests performed after surgery showed that doctors “discovered that cancer was present.”
She added: “My medical team therefore advised that I should have preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of this treatment.”
Neither the palace nor Kate have revealed what type of cancer she is battling, only that she is now undergoing chemotherapy. Following the devastating news, a source told ET that Kate filmed the video on March 20 and began receiving cancer treatment shortly after surgery in January. In the video, Kate sometimes smiled as she delivered the grim news.
“The princess looked quite shocked,” says Nicholl. “I think she seemed like a woman who had been through a lot in the last few months. We are so used to seeing her with her big hair and she still has that beautiful, big hair, that beautiful smile. I get it, but she seemed to have gone through a difficult time and I think anyone who has been subjected to a cancer diagnosis knows exactly the impact it has and of course not just the impact on her but the impact on her young family as well. .”
A source told ET that William and Kate struggled to tell their children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — because they wanted to protect them as much as possible.
“Children process information in different ways. Their main concern was being able to explain this to children in a way that was reassuring and that they could process,” the source said.
In her video statement, Kate said when revealing her cancer diagnosis that she took time because she needed to recover from major surgery “but, most importantly, we took time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in an appropriate way. for them and to reassure them that I’m going to be okay.”
With two senior members of the royal family now battling cancer, Nicholl says the pressure is now on Queen Camilla, 76, when it comes to public appearances.
“We’ve seen Queen Camilla have a very busy schedule, filling in for the King at the Commonwealth Day Service in March, and there’s also huge pressure on Prince William to take on the responsibility,” Nicoll explains. “The late Queen Elizabeth always said, ‘It has to be seen to be believed,’ and that mantra is as true now as it was then.”
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