Princess of Wales has cancer

[GRALISTAIR]

Wow- horrible news. First of all King Charles and now the Princess of Wales officially announced.

 

[brad465]

I suspect she's come out with this now as the effects of the chemotherapy she's about to undergo could easily give the game away otherwise.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I suspect she's come out with this now as the effects of the chemotherapy she's about to undergo could easily give the game away otherwise.

Probably. All the talk about doctored photographs now quite rightly, pale into insignificance

 

[mm333]

To have two members of your family receiving cancer treatment at the same time is pretty awful.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

To have two members of your family receiving cancer treatment at the same time is pretty awful.

Very senior members too.

 

[Typhoon]

I wish both of them a speedy and complete recovery.

Also my sympathies are with the children who are going to learn that life is not always fair pretty quickly

Whatever people may feel about the Royals, cancer is a deeply unpleasant condition, I have known too many who have suffered and struggled, usually unsuccessfully.

Probably. All the talk about doctored photographs now quite rightly, pale into insignificance

Too right. Now they need to leave them alone.

 

[Thirteen]

It's sad but I can't but think Kensington Palace should have upfront a lot earlier.

 

[AndrewE]

Very senior members too.

yes, but the older you get the more likely it is to reveal itself. However it is very bad luck for a middle-aged person to be hit, sadly not uncommon though.
Awful for the young family.

 

[Dai Corner]

It's sad but I can't but think Kensington Palace should have upfront a lot earlier.

I believe the princess wanted to wait until the children broke up for the Easter holidays before telling them.

 

[AlistairCowell]

Not very good news for the Royal Family. King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and now the Princess of Wales has it too.

I believe this might be a first time any Royal Family had cancer, unless one of the members had it years ago which I can’t remember.

 

[JamesT]

Not very good news for the Royal Family. King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and now the Princess of Wales has it too.

I believe this might be a first time any Royal Family had cancer, unless one of the members had it years ago which I can’t remember.

King George VI probably died from lung cancer, though they weren’t as open about things then.

 

[brad465]

Not very good news for the Royal Family. King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and now the Princess of Wales has it too.

I believe this might be a first time any Royal Family had cancer, unless one of the members had it years ago which I can’t remember.

King George VI probably died from lung cancer, though they weren’t as open about things then.

Gyles Brandreth's authorised biography on the late Queen Elizabeth II claims she had bone marrow cancer.

 

[AndrewE]

Gyles Brandreth's authorised biography on the late Queen Elizabeth II claims she had bone marrow cancer.

we all have to die of something, and the longer we live the more likely it is that the big C will have appeared. I believe that loads of people die with (not "of") it, luckily unaware of its development.
I guess the medical treatment for that stratum of society will keep them functioning and looking perky long after the rest of us would have snuffed it in a hospice.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I believe the princess wanted to wait until the children broke up for the Easter holidays before telling them.

My understanding too.

 

[43096]

It's sad but I can't but think Kensington Palace should have upfront a lot earlier.

That's a pretty crass statement to make. Perhaps stop and think about those involved as human beings rather than a media commodity.

 

[66701GBRF]

It's sad but I can't but think Kensington Palace should have upfront a lot earlier.

Private and personal medical information should be released when the individual deems it fit. The world is not owed such information.

 

[uglymonkey]

Genie is out of the bag with that one, social media and 24/7 100's of news channels. Even with information they won't stop speculating and commenting.

 

[gswindale]

It's sad but I can't but think Kensington Palace should have upfront a lot earlier.

Why?

It is sad, but her illness has no bearing on my day to day life, so if she wants it to be public knowledge or keep it private, then up to her.

Should I post on here immediately or put out a press release on the BBC if I were to get such a diagnosis?

 

[dangie]

The dreaded ‘C’ makes no distinction. It has no respect for who you are.

 

[AM9]

I believe this might be a first time any Royal Family had cancer, unless one of the members had it years ago which I can’t remember.

Almost certainly not. Cancer has been around for millenia, as @dangie says, anybody can get it. It's only with shorter lives terminated by other causes that probably reduce its apparent occurence.
I'm not an avid royal follower, but it has been enlightening to see other members of the family stepping up to continue the varied work that the leading members normally do. I understand that Camilla is being reined back slightly because of her age but is still quite busy. Also, this week's honours ceremony duties were performed by Princess Anne, in her later years a very much respected royal.

 

[DarloRich]

That's a pretty crass statement to make. Perhaps stop and think about those involved as human beings rather than a media commodity.

is the correct answer - this is a person with a family and young children. We should think about that first.

 

[SteveM70]

The fawning of certain commentators is vomit inducingly bad. If anyone is feeling brave, have a look at Darren Grimes’ twitter

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Genie is out of the bag with that one, social media and 24/7 100's of news channels. Even with information they won't stop speculating and commenting.

Sadly so true.

 

[DanNCL]

I’m not a supporter of the monarchy but as a human being I obviously wish Catherine a speedy recovery.

I can’t help thinking that if it wasn’t for the doctored photo they’d have been able to keep this hidden until Easter, whereas with the speculation the doctored photo caused they had little choice but to announce it now to stop the speculation.

The speculation had gone too far. Some were speculating a Dianna-style divorce, some were speculating that she’d died, some were speculating about domestic violence, some were speculating she’d fled the country. The speculation/conspiracy theories really had gone way too far.

 

[uglymonkey]

Anything to sell "clicks" and newspapers, sometimes I think some of them won't be happy until she or another one of them is wrapped around a pillar in an underpass ( which they contributed towards). All those legal cases ( Harry still ongoing?) about privacy - the media moguls learning nothing and caring even less. We need some form of press regulation - Levinson started it ( remember that all those years ago) but it was self regulating, so they didn't care and carried on regardless.

 

[brad465]

I’m not a supporter of the monarchy but as a human being I obviously wish Catherine a speedy recovery.

I can’t help thinking that if it wasn’t for the doctored photo they’d have been able to keep this hidden until Easter, whereas with the speculation the doctored photo caused they had little choice but to announce it now to stop the speculation.

The speculation had gone too far. Some were speculating a Dianna-style divorce, some were speculating that she’d died, some were speculating about domestic violence, some were speculating she’d fled the country. The speculation/conspiracy theories really had gone way too far.

A number of news commentators are saying this was clearly done now for the sake of their children: the announcement came almost straight after they'd broken up for the Easter holidays, giving them 2-3 weeks to come to terms with all this away from the school environment, where hopefully by the time they return the situation will have cooled down.

Looking at how she was in the video message and the doctored photo, she clearly didn't look very well in the former, so I can see why the latter was edited, assuming her appearance between the two occasions didn't change much.

 

[stuartl]

Anti vaxxers in USA are now linking it to her getting the covid vaccine.
Someone said to me a while ago that social media was the worst thing invented, all this makes one think they are right.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Anti vaxxers in USA are now linking it to her getting the covid vaccine.
Someone said to me a while ago that social media was the worst thing invented, all this makes one think they are right.

I don’t want to take the thread off topic as the vaccine has been done to death (No pun intended). In the USA though it takes on a whole new Level of stupidity imho. Yes, nobody should have been forced/pressured to have the vaccine, but we are where we are. Putting the vaccine as a potential cause of The Princess of Wales condition though, is really stooping almost to scumbag level. I am shaking my head in disbelief.

 

[gswindale]

I'm just surprised the kiddywinks have already broken up for Easter - obviously not being sent to a proper school seeing as the Easter holidays here in Berkshire start this coming Friday.

 

[bleeder4]

I'm just surprised the kiddywinks have already broken up for Easter - obviously not being sent to a proper school seeing as the Easter holidays here in Berkshire start this coming Friday.

Term dates always vary by county. By me, the schools all broke up yesterday for two weeks.