LONDON (AP) 鈥 Kate, the Princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince William, are said to be 鈥渆xtremely moved鈥 by the public鈥檚 warmth and support following her shocking cancer announcement as tributes continued to pour in Sunday from around the world.
After weeks of on social media about her health and well-being, Kate said in a candid video message on Friday that she is undergoing following major . The 42-year-old princess said the cancer discovery was a 鈥渉uge shock鈥 and she was now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy.
鈥淭he prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the U.K., across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness鈥 message," a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said. 鈥淭hey are extremely moved by the public鈥檚 warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.鈥
There has been a global outpouring of support, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, and who is also undergoing treatment for cancer, which was found after he was undertaking treatment for an enlarged prostate. have revealed what type of cancer they have or the stage at which it was being treated.
Charles' nephew, Peter Phillips, said the king is 鈥渇rustrated鈥 that his recovery is taking longer than 鈥渉e would want it to,鈥 but that he was in 鈥済ood spirits鈥 and 鈥減ushing鈥 his staff to be able to return to his duties after beginning his treatment for cancer last month.
鈥淚 think ultimately he鈥檚 hugely frustrated," Phillips, the son of Charles's sister Princess Anne, told Sky News Australia. 鈥淗e鈥檚 frustrated that he can鈥檛 get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do. But he is very pragmatic, he understands that there鈥檚 a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself.鈥
People continued to flock Sunday to the royal's main London residence, Kensington Palace, as well as where they spend most of their time, to show support for the princess, with many leaving flowers.
Until Friday, officials had only said Kate鈥檚 surgery in January was successful and recuperation would keep the princess away from public duties until April. This has sparked a flurry of about the 鈥渕issing鈥 future queen, compounded after Kate an official photo released to mark Mother鈥檚 Day in the U.K. earlier this month.
The photo, meant to reassure the public, triggered a backlash after The Associated Press and other news agencies retracted it over manipulation concerns.
Even a video published last week by The Sun and TMZ that appeared to show Kate and William shopping near their home didn't dispel the negative coverage.
Criticism of those jumping to sometime-outlandish conclusions continued to be voiced over the weekend.
Paddy Harverson, previously the official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said that the speculation and pressure around Kate's health and whereabouts before her video statement was 鈥渢he worst I鈥檝e ever seen.鈥
However, he said he thought Kate would have revealed her cancer diagnosis exactly as she had, regardless of what was being speculated.
鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely convinced that if we hadn鈥檛 had all the madness and social media, if we hadn鈥檛 had the sort of the Mother鈥檚 Day photo mistake, they would have still done it like this,鈥 he told the BBC. 鈥淭hey would have still waited till this last Friday when the schools are breaking up to make the announcement.鈥
