President Biden and first lady Jill Biden offered well wishes to Kate Middleton Friday, after the Princess of Wales revealed she was diagnosed with cancer.
“Jill and I join millions around the world in praying for your full recovery, Princess Kate,” Biden posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in a reply to her video announcement.
The first lady followed with her own X post, writing “You are brave, and we love you.”
Their words of comfort come after Kate, in a video filmed outdoors, unveiled her medical diagnosis, asking for “time, space, and privacy” for her family through the difficult time.
“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, 42, said in the video.
“It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment,” she added, referring to an abdominal surgery she underwent in January and a subsequent stay at a hospital in London.
Kate said her condition was thought to be noncancerous at the time, and the surgery was successful. However, she added, tests following the procedure found that cancer cells were present.
The royal mother of three is now in the early stages of chemotherapy, she said.
The news comes just over a month after King Charles III was diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a prostate procedure.
Speculation around her wellbeing emerged after a photo was shared on social media that looked to have been altered. Following the backlash, Kate apologized for posting the altered photo, after media agencies began retracting the image.
Conspiracy theories involving Kate’s health were also floated after a grainy video earlier this week appeared to show her exiting a farm shop near her home.
In her announcement Friday, Kate said she and Prince William, who is next in line to the British throne, were “shocked” by the news, and needed to take time to “explain everything” to their kids, George, Charlotte and Louis and “reassure them that I’m going to be OK.”
“At this time, I’m also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer,” she added. “For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.”
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