Kate Middleton has finished chemo, but her “path to healing and recovery is long.”
The Princess of Wales shared this update on her “cancer journey” in an emotional statement posted to her official social media accounts on Monday.
“I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have completed chemotherapy,” the royal says, describing the nine months since she had “routine abdominal surgery” that subsequently seems to have revealed cancer as “incredibly tough for us as a family.”
The princess, who shared her cancer diagnosis in March after weeks of speculation about her well-being, goes on to write about how “complex, scary and unpredictable” cancer can be, especially for the people around you.
“With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything,” the princess says. “This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.”
The statement goes on to say that the princess is focusing on doing what she can to “stay cancer-free,” adding that while her chemo is done she is still taking each day as it comes.”
Calling this a “new phase of recovery,” the 42-year-old royal signals that she is “looking forward to being back at work” and will attend public engagements in the months to come. This seems to confirm reporting in The Times that suggested she would join the royals for Remembrance Day in November, and host her traditional carol service in December.
This statement is striking in several ways: There is a level of emotional vulnerability—“everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling,” she writes, elsewhere noting “a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life” — that almost reveals more about the princess than anything we’ve heard in her over a decade of public life.
The sincerity and sentiment, too, are something else. “To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey — I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright,” she concludes, a world away from the dry official communication we’re used to out of Kensington Palace.
And beyond the level of detail we’re given — Kate has still not revealed her precise diagnosis, but she follows the king’s lead in unprecedented royal medical disclosure by sharing details of her treatment plan — the most unusual thing about this statement is the video that accompanies these words, which the princess reads as a voice over.
Seemingly shot at the couple’s Norfolk country home, it’s unlike anything we have ever seen them release before. While obviously professionally produced and gorgeously shot, it’s more akin to a Youtube family vlog than a royal press release.
We see Kate driving stick in a Land Rover, leaning over to cuddle her daughter, playing cards with her parents around a dining table, gazing contemplatively into the distance as she walks through the woods, runs her hand along flowers in a field, watches a butterfly take off from her hand. We see the kids almost unfiltered — Prince George taps a camera lens at one point and says, “Is this thing on?” — relaxed in the way you’d expect to see in a family home video.
It’s the interactions between Kate and Prince William (who in the darkest days of #WhereIsKate was accused of some pretty heinous things, infidelity not least among them) that are the most striking. In one shot, she leans her head on his shoulder while he holds her in his arms; they giggle together lying down on a beach blanket, he kisses her cheek. To say this is out-of-character for the royals is an understatement.
It is an extraordinary piece of content, in what has already been an unprecedented year for Princess of Wales.
