Kate is entitled to a private life for her recovery
As the Princess of Wales is one of the most senior and normally active royals, and with the King still recovering from his own illness, her cancer diagnosis threatens to throw the already slimmed-down Royal Family into a state of crisis. It has to be assumed she will be out of action, in terms of full-time royal duties, for a longer period of time than previously thought – beyond the “after Easter” timetable originally announced by Kensington Palace.
But it is also likely that the Prince of Wales will also be away from public duties for a time as he supports his wife and their children.
Catherine’s statement explains that, as she undergoes her treatment, she will have William by her side “as a great source of comfort and reassurance”. He cannot expect to be a fulltime royal while at the same time supporting his wife and caring for their three children.
This is likely to mean the
Queen will undertake more engagements – on top of her already busier schedule due to the King’s cancer treatment. But it will also see other royals like the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal step up to fulfil more duties.
Catherine’s cancer diagnosis helps explain why she has chosen to remain so private about her illness, a decision that has inadvertently created, in the absence of news about one of the most photographed and written about people on the planet, the bizarre “Katespiracy”.
The Princess has had to deal with weeks of outlandish online conspiracy theories about her personal life, the fallout over the editing of her Mother’s Day photo and, most seriously of all this week, the news that staff at the London Clinic where she was treated had tried to access her medical records, while all the time dealing with a serious illness and the everyday stresses of motherhood.
Even after years at the front line of the public’s obsession with the royals, nothing could have prepared Catherine for this. There will be some who question why, assuming her diagnosis has been known about for a while, she did not go public earlier. When it was announced in January that she was having treatment for abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace specifically briefed it was not cancer.
It is now known that the illness was found during that surgery, similar to the way the King was diagnosed, although it was not confirmed by her medical team until more recently.
It was an unfortunate coincidence that the King decided to reveal his cancer diagnosis, prompting praise from fellow sufferers, while his daughterin-law was unable to.
Their differing choices are, as Catherine herself explains, to do with the fact she has young children and that she and William wanted to take the time to reassure George, Charlotte and
The Princess has had to deal with weeks of outlandish online conspiracy theories
Louis “that I am going to be OK”. It is also her right to want to keep details of her medical condition a secret. She is not the head of state and even the most public of individuals has a right to a private life.
It will surely put an end to the conspiracy theories and questions over whether video footage of her leaving her local farm shop in Windsor with her husband last week was faked.
She should be left to deal with her illness in private. The Royal Family will have to deal with the new dynamic that the absence of two of its most senior members creates.
In an election year, there may also be constitutional implications for the prolonged absences of the King and Princess of Wales.
After polling day there will be a State Opening of Parliament. It must be hoped that the King, who is still taking his red boxes and speaking to the Prime Minister in their weekly audiences, has recovered well enough and that Catherine can also play her part alongside her husband.