Kate's announcement, and how another royal house deals with an ailing king and daughter-in-law
A video released at 6 p.m. on a Friday is rarely good news. Such was the case for the Princess of Wales.
“Friday news dump” is a term used in the media industry for the deliberate release of bad news — reports, decisions, resignations, firings, etc — on Friday afternoons, knowing that the news cycle slows dramatically over the weekend. The hope is that the timing of such a release will soften its impact and reduce media scrutiny, ideally so that it becomes a blip rather than a scandal by Monday.
It’s such a common occurrence that my first thought was “uh oh” when I heard that a royal version of a “Friday news dump” was coming at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 22 (2 p.m. EDT in North America).
It turns out that the news was bad, but the timing of the video featuring the Princess of Wales announce that she is undergoing preventive chemotherapy wasn’t to bury the story (that would be impossible) and everything to do with the fact that her children had just started a three week Easter break from school. So, instead of facing scrutiny and questions from their classmates, the kids and their parents have a few weeks completely away from the spotlight to absorb quite how their lives have changed.
The video message from the Princess of Wales was recorded by the BBC on Wednesday. In the 2:20 minute video, she gives an update on her medical situation since undergoing surgery in mid January. Back then, Kensington Palace indicated she would need time to recover and would not be returning to royal duties until after Easter (March 31).
The heart of the statement is here:
In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. 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.
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.
As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. 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.
… We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.
And with this announcement, two of the most senior royals are going down eerily similar medical paths:
Catherine, Princess of Wales: On January 17, Kensington Palace announced she had undergone abdominal surgery the previous day at the London Clinic. Post-operative tests discover cancer and Kate began preventive chemotherapy in late February. She tells the public about the cancer diagnosis on March 22, though the type of cancer is not revealed.
King Charles III: On January 17, Buckingham Palace announced he will undergo prostate enlargement treatment at the London Clinic. It occurs on January 26. Post-operative tests discover cancer. On February 5, the public is informed that he has “commenced a schedule of regular treatments” as of that day, though the type of cancer is not revealed beyond that it is not prostate cancer.
Illness means that the King is undertaking a very light schedule of engagements in addition to his constitutional duties (lots of paperwork). He compensates for foregoing public-facing events with the steady release of videos and images from those engagements done behind palace walls. His widely-expected May visit to Canada with Queen Camilla has been indefinitely postponed. Meanwhile, Kate hasn’t done any official engagements in 2024, and joint visits scheduled for Italy and Latvia with Prince William are on hold.
The ripple effect of their illnesses extends to their spouses. Queen Camilla, 76, is representing her husband at more and more functions, including marking Commonwealth Day, to attending this past week’s celebration of Douglas on the Isle of Man (Skye: apologies for the error, and thanks to a reader for pointed it out. PT) obtaining city status. Still, the upheaval of this year can be observed in her royal schedule — she’s undertaken 30 engagements to date this year, down significantly from the average of 50 she’s completed in the first quarters of the previous two years. Though she usually averages around 200 engagements a year, that number is less than half of what her husband or sister-in-law, Princess Anne, do in a typical year.
Prince William’s situation is even more complicated — not only is his wife seriously ill but they are hands-on parents to three very young children. So he drastically scaled back his schedule in the immediate aftermath of Kate’s surgery to focus on their family. Only recently has his official schedule gotten busier. Before the Easter school break, he did 13 engagements in March, up from six in February and one in January.
Adding to that stress, his father is ill, meaning that he has to know that he may succeed his father as head of The Firm sooner than expected.
“I must be seen to be believed” was the famous expression of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The math and the calendar makes it all but certain that we’ll be seeing a lot less of those most senior four royals in the next few months. At the same time, we’re seeing more of the “supporting cast” of royals as their profiles are raised in compensation.
Illness and another royal house
The Windsors aren’t the only current royal family to have a king and the wife of the heir to the throne dealing with serious health issues.
King Harald V of Norway, 87, has had a series of medical issues in recent years, including bladder cancer in 2003. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, has repeatedly stepped in to act as regent.
In 2018, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease that can cause scar tissue to build up.
She was 45 at the time, three years older than the Princess of Wales is now. And in a similar vein to Kate’s video announcement, Crown Princess Mette-Marit answered questions about her health during a TV interview, acknowledging that she could be absent for periods of time as she deals with a chronic medical condition. Over the years, she’d had to cancel or scale back duties, as needed, including being on sick leave for nearly a month last year.
In late February 2024, Harald and his wife, Queen Sonja, were vacationing in Malaysia when his health deteriorated. He was admitted to hospital. Doctors had to implant a temporary pacemaker so he could handle the trip back to Norway on a medical transport plan. After more treatment in Oslo, he was finally discharged from hospital on March 14 and is on sick leave while resting and recuperating until at least April 8.
The Norwegian royals send out updates, as needed — including 11 short press releases for Harald’s current health crisis — and that manner-of-fact communications strategy has helped normalize the situation.
The royals have been here before
While it’s certainly notable that two senior Windsors are undergoing cancer treatment at the same time, this isn’t the first time the royal family has experienced a dearth of senior working members. As I wrote in my “The past as prologue” newsletter on February 24, the situation is remarkably similar to that of 75 years ago. In 1949, there were:
An ailing king (George VI)
An heir busy with a young family (Elizabeth, baby Charles, and Philip starting a posting in Malta)
Few senior royals available to carry out official duties (Princess Margaret was 18 years old)
An exiled duke (the Duke of Windsor)
Back then, Princess Elizabeth had just given birth to her first child, Charles (and would “retire” from public life again while pregnant with Anne, born in 1950). As well, she was about to spend large parts of 1949-51 based in Malta, where her husband, Philip, was posted with the Royal Navy. (Their idyllic family life would abruptly end when her father’s health deteriorated. She was 25 when she became monarch, while Philip was 29.)
In the end, the previous generation muddled through until Anne and Charles would become old enough to be full-time working royals. That’s roughly what will likely happen 20-25 years from now with the Wales children (George, Charlotte, and Louis).
Right now, no one can know whether the current short-term issue will become a long-term problem. And knee-jerk reactions to such problems rarely end well.
Wait and watch may not be a popular answer to “What comes next?” but it may be the best option, at least for now.
SCHEDULING FYI: I had a post ready to publish yesterday afternoon. I obviously didn’t press the Send button. I’ll send it out early next week.