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The Royal Family & Cancer Diagnoses: 1) The Double Cancer Blow To Kate And King Charles Leaves Britain’s Royal Family Depleted And Strained; 2) Kate’s Diagnosis Could Prompt Others To Get Tested, Seek Treatment: Cancer Society

1) The Double Cancer Blow To Kate And King Charles Leaves Britain’s Royal Family Depleted And Strained

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 23rd, 2024

The Associated Press

By Jill Lawless

The Princess of Wales’ disclosure that she has cancer and will take time off to recover leaves the ranks of working royals depleted and strains a monarchy that King Charles III has sought to slim down.

Kate’s announcement on Friday prompted an outpouring of goodwill toward her and for a royal family that’s now facing two serious health crises. Some of the social media frenzy that has swirled in the princess’ absence from public view may now seep away.

But with the king also being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, and Prince William helping to care for Kate and their children over the Easter school break, the ranks of working royals have been thinned, making the monarchy’s future suddenly look fragile.

“This is a smaller and frailer royal family than Britain is used to,” veteran journalist Andrew Marr wrote in the New Statesman magazine. “It scarcely seems believable that only a decade ago, people were complaining about there being far too many members of it.”

Prince Harry is in California, estranged from his brother. Prince Andrew is in disgrace over his friendship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and faced allegations of sexual abuse. So it falls to Queen Camilla and a few others to be the public face of a monarchy that now has increased public sympathy but reduced visibility.

“It’s a remarkable situation and a significant moment for the monarchy and the institution so early in the king’s reign that two senior figures should be out of action,” said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. “The pressure is on a much smaller team.”

Partly in response to gripes that taxpayers were funding a small army of royals, Charles resolved to run a tighter ship when he took the throne in 2022, with a core group of senior family members carrying out most of the work.

The nature of that work may not be apparent, especially to people outside the U.K., but it is plentiful. The monarch has no political power but plays a constitutional role that includes signing bills into law and meeting regularly with government ministers.

The king and his children are patrons of many charities, professional bodies and sporting organizations, as well as ceremonial colonels-in-chief of military regiments and dispensers of medals for valor and public achievements.

The most visible royal is now 76-year-old Camilla, who has kept working while her husband is treated for cancer. In recent days she has stood in for Charles on visits to the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

The king’s sister, 73-year-old Princess Anne, has attended award ceremonies, receptions and visits as patron of organizations including Save the Children. Prince Edward, at 60 the king’s youngest brother, has been in Uganda on royal duties that stretch across the 56-nation Commonwealth of Britain’s former colonies.

The engagements help fulfill the maxim of the late Queen Elizabeth II that the royal family must be “seen to be believed.”

“This is a historic monarchy that thrives on interacting with people,” royal historian Robert Hardman told Sky News. “It has to be visible.”

But striking a balance between visibility and privacy has always been tricky. During the late queen’s 70-year reign, the British media evolved from showing deference toward the royals to having a hunger for scoops that saw some tabloids resort to phone hacking and other illegal activity in search of stories.

Press behavior changed to an extent after the death of Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash while being pursued by photographers. That curbed the use of paparazzi photos, but the relationship between the monarchy and the media remains uneasy. It’s openly hostile in the case of Prince Harry, who is suing several newspaper publishers for invasion of privacy.

The palace initially stumbled in its attempt to sate the public desire for information about Kate while maintaining her privacy. A photo of Kate and her children George, Charlotte and Louis released on March 10 to coincide with Mother’s Day in the U.K. backfired when The Associated Press and other news agencies retracted the picture because it appeared to have been manipulated.

There was no suggestion the image was fake, but the slip-up set off even more conjecture.

Claudia Joseph, author of “Kate: The Making of a Princess,” said the Prince and Princess of Wales are social media-savvy, but that dealing with the online world is “a learning curve.”

Joseph said the royal family is still dealing with the “big shock” of Harry and Meghan’s departure. Their retreat from royal duties in 2020 — spurred, they said, by relentless press intrusion and a lack of support from the palace — “depleted the younger ranks.”

Despite that, she said public sympathy and the royals’ sense of duty would see the monarchy through its latest crisis.

“Families do get ill, and they do struggle, and sometimes people have to take a step back from work,” she said. “I’m sure in six months’ time when they have recovered, hopefully, people will forget that they weren’t around for a few months.”

In her video message, Kate said that her work “has always brought me a deep sense of joy, and I look forward to being back when I am able.”

“But for now, I must focus on making a full recovery,” she said.

2) Kate’s Diagnosis Could Prompt Others To Get Tested, Seek Treatment: Cancer Society

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 23rd, 2024

The sharing of a cancer diagnosis from Catherine, the Princess of Wales, could be positive for those going through their own cancer journey or people who need to be more aware of the disease, says an executive with the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Stuart Edmonds, executive vice-president of mission, research and advocacy for the society, said such news from the princess, or other public figures, can help raise awareness and encourage others to be tested early and seek treatment.

“I think that there are some extreme positives, but, you know, I think that people, when they’re going there on their own personal journey for cancer, the timing of sharing information about that is a very private matter,” he said.

“I’m not at all suggesting that everyone that’s well known should actually tell everyone about their health issues. I think that that’s far too much to ask. But when it does happen, I think it does raise that really important awareness about cancer.” 

The princess released a video statement Friday after intense worldwide speculation about her health, saying that following successful abdominal surgery in January, doctors told her cancer had been present and advised that she undergo “preventive chemotherapy.”

She says in the video that she and Prince William are doing everything they can to “process and manage this privately” for the sake of their 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,” she says 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.”

The couple’s three children range in age from five to 10.

Edmonds said when talking to young people about cancer, the sense is that they need help to understand what is happening without being made fearful.

He said it can help to prepare for the conversation ahead of time, choose a location that is quiet and private, and possibly bring another adult for support.

Provide information in small chunks and don’t bombard them with too much information, Edmonds said. 

“And be ready to answer questions because it’s always likely that there’ll be questions coming.”

Edmonds said he can “completely understand” the princess wanting to make sure her family knew about the diagnosis before it became public.

“I can’t begin to understand the pressure and the anxiety and the fear that she must be going through herself with a cancer diagnosis, and currently cancer treatment,” he said.

“We hope the treatment is successful and we wish her well.”

The princess is the second royal to go public with a cancer diagnosis recently. In February, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles had been diagnosed with “a form of cancer.”

Patricia Dent

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