A screenshot from a video statement by Catherine, Princess of Wales, disclosed that she had been diagnosed with cancer and chemotherapy had started Credit.BBC Studios
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun chemotherapy, she announced in a video message on Friday, in which she described the past two months as “incredibly tough for our entire family.”
The princess described the news as a “huge shock” and asked for “time, space and privacy” in a prerecorded video broadcast on the BBC on Friday evening in Britain.
Her diagnosis follows that of King Charles III, who announced his cancer diagnosis and treatment in early February. It comes after a period of intense uncertainty about the health of Catherine, who underwent abdominal surgery in January and largely disappeared from public view as she tried to recuperate.
Like the king, Catherine, 42, did not specify what kind of cancer she has but asked the public and news media to respect her desire for privacy.
“We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment,” said Catherine, who is the wife of Prince William and a future queen.
“This of course came as a huge shock,” Catherine said, “and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time.”
Catherine’s announcement is a grim coda to a period of increasingly wild rumours about her health and well-being. But it plunges the British royal family into a period of even deeper uncertainty, with both the 75-year-old monarch and his daughter-in-law, the wife of his eldest son and heir and the mother of Prince George, the second in line to the throne, facing grave health problems.
In her statement, Catherine said that at the time her surgery was performed, doctors believed that her condition was noncancerous. The surgery was successful, she said, but in further tests, the doctor found evidence of cancer. They recommended a course of chemotherapy, which she said she had recently begun.
“It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment,” Catherine said in the video. “But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”
Catherine’s announcement eerily echoed that of Charles’s. Buckingham Palace said that the king’s cancer was detected after a procedure for an enlarged prostate. While the palace has said he does not have prostate cancer, it has not specified what kind of cancer it is, nor what his prognosis is.
Until Catherine’s video on Friday, Kensington Palace, where William and Catherine have their offices, had released even fewer details about her condition, an information vacuum that led to a raft of rumours and conspiracy theories on social media.
In the video, which Kensington Palace said was recorded by the BBC in Windsor on Wednesday, Catherine is seen sitting on a bench outside, with daffodils and trees in blossom behind her.
Her hands clasped on her lap, she begins by thanking the public for their messages of support and understanding while she was recovering from surgery, before announcing her diagnosis.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was noncancerous. The surgery was successful,” she said. “However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. 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.”
Catherine’s statement emphasized the importance of her three children and their well-being as a key factor in the timing of the announcement. “As I have said to them,” she said, “I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, too.”
The children’s school has now broken up for the Easter holidays. A Kensington Palace official said Catherine and William had wanted to share the information when they felt it was right for them as a family.
Catherine ended her video statement with a message for other people impacted by a cancer diagnosis. “At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer,” she said. “For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.”
Source: NYT
威爾斯王妃凱瑟琳透露罹患癌症
威爾斯王妃凱瑟琳在周五的視訊訊息中宣布，她已被診斷出患有癌症，並已開始接受化療，她在影片中稱過去兩個月「對我們整個家庭來說非常艱難」。
週五晚上，英國廣播公司在預先錄製的影片中，公主將這一消息描述為“巨大的震驚”，並要求“時間、空間和隱私”。
她的診斷遵循國王查爾斯三世的診斷，後者在二月初宣布了他的癌症診斷和治療。
在此之前，凱瑟琳的健康狀況經歷了一段時期的嚴重不確定性，她在一月份接受了腹部手術，在試圖康復時基本上從公眾視野中消失了。
和國王一樣，42 歲的凱瑟琳沒有具體說明自己患有哪種癌症，但要求公眾和新聞媒體尊重她對隱私的渴望。
「我們希望您能理解，作為一個家庭，在我完成治療期間，我們現在需要一些時間、空間和隱私，」威廉王子的妻子、未來的女王凱瑟琳說。
「這當然是一個巨大的震驚，」凱瑟琳說，「為了我們年輕的家庭，威廉和我一直在盡一切努力私下處理和管理這件事。
正如你可以想像的那樣，這需要時間。”
凱瑟琳的聲明是關於她健康和福祉的謠言日益猖獗的時期的一個嚴峻的尾聲。 但這讓英國王室陷入了一個更加不確定的時期，75歲的君主和他的兒媳，他的長子和繼承人的妻子，以及第二任喬治王子的母親。王位繼承人，面臨著嚴重的健康問題。
凱瑟琳在聲明中說，進行手術時，醫生認為她的病情沒有癌症。 她說，手術很成功，但在進一步的檢查中，醫生發現了癌症的證據。 他們建議進行一個療程的化療，她說她最近開始了化療。
「我花了一些時間從大手術中恢復過來才能開始治療，」凱瑟琳在影片中說。 “但是，最重要的是，我們花了一些時間以適合喬治、夏洛特和路易斯的方式向他們解釋一切，並向他們保證我會沒事的。”
凱瑟琳的聲明與查爾斯的聲明出奇地相呼應。 白金漢宮表示，國王在接受攝護腺肥大手術後發現罹患癌症。 雖然白金漢宮表示他沒有罹患攝護腺癌，但沒有具體說明這是哪種癌症，也沒有具體說明他的預後如何。
在凱瑟琳週五發布影片之前，威廉和凱瑟琳的辦公室所在的肯辛頓宮公佈的有關她病情的細節甚至更少，這種資訊真空導致社交媒體上出現了大量謠言和陰謀論。
肯辛頓宮稱，英國廣播公司週三在溫莎錄製的影片中，凱瑟琳坐在外面的長凳上，身後是水仙花和盛開的樹木。
她雙手緊握在腿上，首先感謝公眾在她手術後康復期間給予的支持和理解，然後宣布了自己的診斷結果。
「一月份，我在倫敦接受了腹部大手術，當時人們認為我的病情是非癌性的。 手術很成功。」她說。 「然而，手術後的檢查發現癌症已經存在。 因此，我的醫療團隊建議我應該接受一個預防性化療過程，而我現在正處於治療的早期階段。”
凱瑟琳的聲明強調了她的三個孩子的重要性以及他們的福祉是宣布這一消息的關鍵因素。 “正如我對他們所說的那樣，”她說， “通過專注於那些能幫助我治癒的事情，我每天都在變得越來越堅強；我現在很好。” 在我的思想、身體和精神中。 有威廉在我身邊也給我很大的安慰和保證。”
孩子們的學校現已因復活節假期而停課。
肯辛頓宮的一名官員表示，凱瑟琳和威廉覺得分享這些資訊對他們一家人來說是正確的。
凱瑟琳在影片聲明的最後向其他受癌症診斷影響的人傳達了訊息。 「此時，我也在想著所有那些生活受到癌症影響的人，」她說。 「對於每個面對這種疾病的人，無論以何種形式，請不要失去信心或希望。 你並不孤單。”
Comments