Princess of Wales has cancer

It happened 6 weeks ago, and it was handled differently:

For sure, but it was uncharted territory before early 2024. It does tell us there are different communications teams at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace - by all accounts, the Kensington people seem to have a total mess of things and not handled it well.

"Relax" Ah that chestnut. Why does one need to relax before digesting your nonsense?

Right. Too sensitive to handle your comments. Got it.

Jesus. Feel sorry for her and her family - hope she makes a full recovery.

I know they are public property to an extent but dealing with cancer is stressful enough without the nonsense that went with it over the last few weeks. I'd imagine she was stressed to bits. The whole relationship that the British public (and other countries) have with the Royals is very dysfunctional and voyeuristic.

just screen for all types of cancer.

And now she has skin cancer. It's a pretty bad run of luck for that family health wise the past year .

Is any form not serious, cancer can get anyone it doesn't discriminate, rich or poor, she probably has the best medical team possible so hopefully a good outcome, a full recovery

Then screen for the screenable types without the pedantry.

You can only screen if people are willing to have the procedure needed be screened. Without public awareness, many aren't willing.

Excellent post

It’s not always that simple: screening is only useful if in the end more harm is prevented than is caused by unnecessary treatment of people who would otherwise never have got ill, or for whom the extra years of treatment may only mean more years spent as a “cancer patient”.

That’s because many pre or early cancers seem to “clear up” by mechanisms we don’t fully understand, and cancer treatment can itself be permanently damaging to health.

Alternatively, if someone’s cancer is found 5 years earlier, pre symptoms, thanks to screening, but the treatment doesn’t help and they still die on the same date they’d have died without screening, then all the screening has done is to shorten the time they were able to lead a normal life.

Prostate cancer is one where asymptomatic screening doesn’t have a good benefit risk balance, because the PSA test is not very accurate and the result of unnecessary treatment is itself often life changing, with a significant risk of impotence or incontinence.

Breast cancer screening among young women has similar downsides, which is why it tends not to be systematic for the under 50s. The radiation itself increases the risk of cancer, and ultrasound doesn’t show up well in the premenopausal breast.

Wishing her well, hope its fully treatable. Its close to my heart and my family's heart. We lost our sister last year to a gyno cancer, just a couple years older than Kate. So I totally appreciate that feeling of the unknown and saying to yourself and each other ..'she'll be fine ..most cancers are treatable these days.'

But one thing she and her family has is the royal staff, nanny, house staff, etc to make life a little easier. Plenty of husbands or wives have to juggle school runs, kids sports training, shopping, cooking, driving their partner for medical appointments, and try to keep down a job to pay the bills. Money wont cure cancer, but it can make the journey easier on the family.

I totally understand the need for privacy. My sister and our family appreciated the privacy during that time, and up to the end. We didnt share information, and we appreciated that neighbors, colleagues and people not close to us did not question us about her illness and treatment. They respected the privacy wishes. Now, I hope she, William, the kids and the Middleton family are left alone by the media and the world.

Cancer of the thyroid gland or the parathyroid gland(s) would be considered less serious and more treatable than a lot of cancers. Also there are different types of skin cancer, one which is very slow growing and one which is much more aggressive and dangerous.

Not all cancers are detected through screening and that is why screening may not be helpful that is true

However there needs to be more awareness of certain cancers that have very vague symptoms so that people are watching out themselves and attend their doctor early with the knowledge that they need, to look for certain cancers to be ruled out.

We all know people who have attended various doctors for months with symptoms but were still not diagnosed in a timely manner. Whether this makes a difference to outomes is not clear but it is very upsetting for all involved.

However and this is the point... do we really think that it is down to this young woman / mother who is going through the worst time of her life to publicise her symptoms and what cancer she has at this time?

Absolutely not and it is just more of the nosiness and prying that some people feel she should be more open ' to help others '

I don't buy that and its like another way of getting at this particular person..

I know you didn't say that as you were replying to another, so no offence meant to you, but this is what we have seen on social media since she had her surgery.

Yes, they are in the public eye, yes, they can help publicise any number of helpful messages to the wider public, but not now.

She needs time to go through her treatment and be with her family like any one of the rest of us would if we were in her position.

Time enough for lessons about whatever it is at a later stage.

Lets just wish her the best and move on.

Has she actually asked for privacy?

I've been in a similar scenario (cancer diagnosed after treatment) and really didn't feel any need to keep it private.

Yes, I'm not a celebrity - But equally I'm not having a lavish lifestyle funded by the taxpayer. The latter has a price.

In fairness, since they said she was gonna be remaining out of the public eye until after Easter, yes that does sound like privacy.

Since she's in the public eye, she will get a tonne of flack over her appearance and what the odds of survival our. I loath the royal family but don't think her health is a public right to know. For some it's personal and they don't want to share it and being royalty shouldn't change that.

For the record,I think the royal PR department were morons releasing that image. But I view the speculation about everything from bulimia to spousal abuse to be absolutely deplorable. They're the idiots who think they're entitled to know.

The Princess of Wales will probably “not appear in public for the rest of the year,” and is being “surrounded” by her birth family as she continues a course of preventive chemotherapy having been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, royal sources and friends of Kate Middleton and Prince William have told The Daily Beast.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kate-middleton-may-not-appear-in-public-for-rest-of-the-year-sources

I don’t think The Beast is very reputable. However, the health situation may be very serious, and I wouldn’t blame them all trying to maximise family time together, rather than being in the limelight, if the prognosis is particularly guarded.

The fact that Catherine will be out of the public eye for so long is not necessarily bad news. Cancer treatment can sometimes go on for a very long time (over a year), so it doesn't mean that the outlook for her is grim. Even if the treatment is a success, she may wish to take a further six months or so to stay out of the public gaze and to fully recover.