Catherine, Princess of Wales, today announced that she was recently diagnosed with cancer. It was discovered by tests following her abdominal surgery in January and she has begun a course of preventative chemotherapy.
The type of cancer has not been disclosed. She started chemotherapy in late February and the announcement comes as her father-in-law, King Charles, also undergoes cancer treatment.
"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family," Kate, 42, said in the video, which was filmed at Windsor on Wednesday. "As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment."
Catherine's recent lack of public appearances led to conspiracy theories about her status, marriage and location, and scrutiny only intensified after several PR mishaps. The BBC and others posted a brief video statement by Princess Catherine:
