Kate’s cancer diagnosis: What it means for the royal family - The Front Page

The Princess of Wales and King Charles' respective cancer diagnoses have put the whole family under further strain. Photo / Getty Images

With two senior members of the royal family now undergoing treatment for cancer, one commentator believes this is the toughest period for the monarchy since Princess Diana’s death.

Catherine, Princess of Wales today revealed a cancer diagnosis that came after she received abdominal surgery in January. She has been out of the spotlight since then, sparking intense speculation about her personal life.

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told The Front Page podcast the news has come as a “terrible shock” and it’s likely the Princess will remain out of the public eye for some time.

“Now if she is a couple of weeks into her chemotherapy, I very much doubt we’re going to see her next weekend as had been hoped for at her first official outing as it were, her first royal engagement [since the surgery], I sense it might be for another few weeks after that before we see her out and about performing official duties again.”

The news comes weeks after King Charles revealed his cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Grey said with the two major working royals off-duty, the likes of Queen Camilla and Prince William are having to pick up the slack, but there are fewer working royals around to utilise.

He said while the Palace has been more open about these cancer diagnoses than in the past - with Queen Elizabeth II in particular keeping her medical concerns firmly under wraps - the Palace has still kept some elements private, such as the specific nature of both cancers.

“We’ve seen the King say ‘I’ve got cancer’, but not say what cancer it is. And now we’ve finally got Kate owning up as it were to the fact that abdominal surgery then revealed she had cancer. And again, we don’t know what type of cancer it is.

“And so now, even though they’re trying to be more open with people, the more open they are, the more questions they get.”

This intense speculation and interest in their lives poses a lot of questions for Palace officials about how open they should become and where they need to draw the line.

" I can’t think of a tougher time, really, for the royals since Diana’s death, when all the scrutiny was on them about how they had or have not acted, what they did or did not do, how they did or did not treat Diana. And I think now we are well in a position again where they are in a very, very difficult place.

“And even though all these words of sentiment today from the Prime Minister, from King Charles, from people that aren’t monarchists, all these warm words today, I’m afraid the scrutiny won’t go away, the plotting and the theories on social media won’t go away.”

Listen to the full episode for more on the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnosis.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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