LONDON - Kate, the Princess of Wales, announced Friday that she was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing preventative chemotherapy. This comes after weeks of widespread speculation over her whereabouts and health.
In a video announcement released by Kensington Palace, Kate thanked her supporters for their understanding and her medical team for taking care of her. She shared that she underwent a major abdominal surgery in London in January and, at the time, it was thought that her condition was non-cancerous.
Though the surgery was successful, tests after the operation found that cancer had been present. Kate shared that her medical team advised her to begin preventative chemotherapy and that she is in the early stages of treatment.
"It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family," Kate said. "This, of course, came as a huge shock and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately."
The 42 year-old Princess of Wales was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in January at a private London clinic after having an unspecified abdominal surgery.
Kensington Palace has kept quiet, giving little detail about Kate’s condition beyond initially saying it wasn’t cancer-related, that the surgery was successful and her recovery would keep Kate away from public duties until April.
Kate, who is 42, hadn't been seen publicly since Christmas until video surfaced earlier this week of her with her husband, Prince William, walking near their home in Windsor.
This is the second recent cancer diagnosis for the royal family, as King Charles III announced his own battle with cancer in February. Charles has withdrawn from public duties while he undergoes cancer treatment, though he's appeared frequently in photos carrying on meetings with government officials and dignitaries and has even been seen going to church.
Kate, on the other hand, has been out of the public's sight, leading to weeks of speculation and gossip. Attempts to put rumors to bed by releasing a photo of her on Mother's Day in the U.K. surrounded by her three children backfired when news agencies retracted the image because it had been manipulated.
Kate issued a statement the next day acknowledging she liked to “experiment with editing” and apologizing for “any confusion” the photo had caused, but that did little to quell the speculation.