Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis poses fresh crisis — Three senior royals now battling disease

Three senior British Royals are currently battling cancer — a somewhat unprecedented turn of events that followed mere months after a coronation. The 2020s have been a trying decade for the Royals thus far — from the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the estrangement of Prince Harry and Meghan. The latest update came this week amid frenzied speculation about the Princess of Wales' health. 

Catherine — formerly known as Kate Middleton — shared a video message on Friday to reveal that she was currently undergoing ‘preventative chemotherapy’. The Princess of Wales however reiterated that she was “well” and “getting stronger every day”.

“It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful. In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” she had explained. 

However, this was the third royal family cancer diagnosis shared since 2024 began.

ALSO READ: 'I am well...': How Kate Middleton broke the news of her cancer diagnosis to her kids George, Charlotte, and Louis

Earlier on February 5, Buckingham Palace had published a statement that King Charles III had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, unrelated to the treatment he had been receiving for an enlarged prostate.

The statement said that he had begun “regular treatments”. The king postponed all public-facing duties during his treatment, but reportedly continued with his “constitutional role as head of state, including completing paperwork and holding private meetings”.

Prior to that, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, had been diagnosed with a malignant form of skin cancer — her second cancer diagnosis in a year.

(With inputs from agencies)