LONDON.- Los princes of walesWilliam and Kate Middleton, said today -March 24- that they are extremely moved by the public’s affection and support following their shocking announcement that the princess has cancer, while messages continued to arrive from all over the world.
After weeks of frenetic speculation on social media about her health and condition, Kate said Friday in a candid video message that she is receiving chemotherapy for cancer following abdominal surgery. The princess, 42, explained that the discovery of the cancer was a great shock and that she was now in the early stages of preventive chemotherapy treatment.
Princes of Wales appreciate privacy
The prince and princess are greatly touched by the kind messages from people here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to His Highness’s message, a Kensington Palace spokesperson said. They are extremely touched by the public’s affection and support and appreciate your understanding of their request for privacy at this time.
Expressions of support have come from all over the world, such as from the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and King Charles III, who is also undergoing cancer treatment. Neither Kate nor the king have revealed what kind of cancer they have or what stage it is in.
People have flocked to the royals’ main residence in London, Kensington Palace, as well as Windsor Castle, where they spend most of their time, to express their support for the princess, and many have left flowers.
Until February, authorities had only said that the monarch’s surgery in January had been successful and that recovery would keep the princess away from public work until April. That sparked rumors about the missing future queen, which increased after Kate acknowledged having modified an official photo of her published on the occasion of Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom this month.
The photo, which was intended to reassure the public, provoked the opposite reaction after The Associated Press and other news agencies removed the image because it had been manipulated.
Not even a video posted last week by The Sun y TMZ which appeared to show Kate and William shopping near their home dispelled the negative coverage.
During the weekend, criticism continued of those who took hasty and sometimes poorly reasoned conclusions.
Paddy Harverson, who was the official spokesman for Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the speculation and pressure surrounding the princess’s health and whereabouts before the video statement was the worst he had seen.
However, he said he believed the future queen would have revealed her cancer diagnosis as she had regardless of the speculation.
“I’m absolutely convinced that if we hadn’t had all the madness and social media, if we hadn’t had the Mother’s Day bug, they would still have done something like this,” he told the BBC. They would have waited until this past Friday when the school holidays begin to make the announcement.
FUENTE: AP
