The last couple of months have been tough for the British royalty. Following King Charles’ cancer diagnosis, it was revealed that Catherine, Princess of Wales, was also diagnosed with cancer.
This announcement came after a period of speculations regarding her health and her whereabouts, considering the fact that the Palace hadn’t issued any statements nor the Princess was seen in public.
The only statement the Palace issued regarding Kate’s health condition was that she would be taking her time to recuperate following her surgery and won’t be returning to her royal duties until Easter. Later, they issued another statement assuring the public that the Princess was doing well. This, however, wasn’t enough evidence that Kate was indeed in good health since no one had seen her after a surgery until TMZ shared a photo of her.
On Mother’s Day, Kate posted an image of herself and her three children, but the photo was soon determined to be edited which led news agencies to “kill” it, or issue “kill notices,” which are advisory notices to remove or not use a specific photo.
Eventually, Kate Middleton put a stop to the speculations when she disclosed with the public the news of her cancer diagnosis.
Ian Vogler-WPA Pool/Getty Images
In the video she posted, Kate explained that it was following her surgery that doctors noticed the presence of cancer after running tests.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London, and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” she said. Kate further video detailed that tests following her ‘planned’ abdominal surgery revealed the presence of cancer.
“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” said the statement. “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 said that she and her husband ask for privacy.
As messages and comments of well-wished came pouring it, it was reported that Harry and Meghan reached out to Kate, both after her surgery and after her cancer diagnosis.
“The King and the Princess of Wales have received support from Prince Harry and Meghan regarding their health,” a source told The Mirror. “The Duke and Duchess contacted both parties in different ways to pass on their concern and best wishes.”
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Weeks later, after Kate posted the video, Meghan contacted the princess, hoping it would be the first step to ending the feud, as per the US Weekly.
Another source said that Meghan has been very “supportive” of the idea her husband reconciles with his family.
However, sources say that William is not interested in mending things with his younger brother.
Some believe that Meghan is now taking advantage of the situation surrounding Kate and it all started amidst the scandal with the Mother’s Day photo when Kate and the Palace were accused of manipulating with the photo, while Meghan launched her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard just two days later.
The Instagram page’s bio reads: “By Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Established 2024,” with a link to the lifestyle brand’s website.
The promotional video shows Meghan cooking in a kitchen and picking flowers. The fact that she released the video and promoted her business mere days after Kate’s Mother’s Day photo scandal didn’t sit well with everyone.
Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Royal expert Kinsey Schofield accused Meghan Markle of taking advantage of Kate’s situation, mainly from a “marketing perspective.”
He added that the Duchess of Sussex would “not be enjoying” seeing the consequences of the Mother’s Day picture scandal.
“Even CNN, which has been notoriously critical of the monarchy, cited Meghan’s launch as being suspicious and ill timed, while noting that Catherine is about three times more popular than Meghan,” the royal expert said when speaking with GB News’ host Mark Dolan.
“I don’t know if she’s relishing in it, but I do know that it’s clear she’s taken advantage of it.”
GB News host Mark Dolan added that Meghan is “entitled” to launch a brand “whenever she likes.” He concluded that Harry and Meghan indeed “would challenge the idea” that the Duchess took advantage of Kate’s situation, claiming that the timing was coincidental.
A per The Times, Harry and Meghan learned of Kate’s diagnosis from the video, at the same time with the public.
In the public statement they released, the Sussexes wrote, “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Speaking to People, a person close to the royals said the Sussexes weren’t informed of Kate’s condition beforehand because clearly there is “clearly no trust.”
“They are aware of everything that goes on back in England, but are being left out of any details regarding Kate,” the source told People. “There is clearly no trust.”
Another source told the New York Post: “This goes to show the irreparable damage they have caused. The trust has been broken and the royal family is OK distancing themselves from them.”
Royal historian Richard Fitzwilliams believes that the current situation only shows the true damage of the broken relationship between Harry and William.
“There’s a deep rift between the brothers – that we know,” he told The Sun.
“We also know that they haven’t apparently spoken in many months, and the reason, of course, is that for some four years, they’ve caused endless problems to the royal family, and so they can’t be trusted. William hasn’t trusted Harry and Meghan, and I mean with good reason.”
Fitzwilliams added: “We know with Oprah, the Harry and Meghan programme for Netflix, Harry’s book Spare, and then with the interviews surrounding his book there was no reason to monetise their links with the royal family. The trouble is that’s the only thing that appears to have made a lot of money for them. That raises other questions as to what they’ll be doing in the future.”
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
In the period that follows, Kate would be focused on her health and her children. The family would spend the three-week holiday the children are on at Anmer Hall in Sandringham, the place where Kate feels most like home.
Allegedly neither she nor William have any plans of reconciliation with Harry and Meghan when Harry is expected to visit Britain in May. According to Tom Quinn, the possible meeting between the brother would be “very brief.”
“Given Kate’s cancer diagnosis, Harry will certainly make efforts to see his brother and Kate when he returns to the UK in May – if it happens at all it’s to be a very brief carefully choreographed meeting and organised to last a short time so that the brothers can avoid any difficult conversations,” Quinn said.
He added: “At the same time Harry knows how it will look if he comes back to the UK and doesn’t see his brother and Kate. It’s going to be a very awkward time.”
Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook.