Kate Middleton news: Princess of Wales reveals cancer diagnosis

Video: Kate Middleton says she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate, the Princess of Wales, says she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The video announcement Friday came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.

Kate Middleton announced Friday that she has cancer, is receiving chemotherapy and is in the early stages of treatment.

Catherine, Princess of Wales' condition was disclosed in a video message recorded on Wednesday and released on Friday.

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.

Catherine, Princess of Wales. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)

Middleton said the news came as a huge shock, and that she and Prince William have done everything they can to manage their young family.

"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous," the princess said in a video statement.

"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."

Watch the video announcement

"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 asked for "time, space and privacy" while she is treated for an unspecified type of cancer.

"I am well," she said. "I am getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal."

Prince George of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Prince Louis of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Platinum Pageant on June 5, 2022 in (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

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Kate, 42, hadn’t been seen publicly since Christmas until video surfaced this week of her with her husband, Prince William, heir to the throne, walking from a farm shop near their Windsor home.

Kensington Palace had given little detail about Kate’s condition beyond saying it wasn’t cancer-related, the surgery was successful and recuperation would keep the princess away from public duties until April.

The news is another shock for the royal family since the announcement last month that King Charles III was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer that was caught while undergoing a procedure for a benign enlarged prostate.

Charles, 75, has withdrawn from public duties while he has cancer treatment, though he's appeared frequently in photos carrying on meetings with government officials and dignitaries and was even seen going to church.

The former Kate Middleton, who married William in a fairy-tale wedding in 2011, has boosted the popularity and appeal of the British monarchy worldwide more than any royal since Princess Diana.

The princess is the oldest of three children brought up in a well-to-do neighborhood in Berkshire, west of London. The Middletons have no aristocratic background, and the British press often referred to Kate as a "commoner" marrying into royalty.

Kate attended the private girls’ school Marlborough College and then University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she met William around 2001. Friends and housemates at first, their relationship came to be in the public eye when they were pictured together on a skiing holiday in Switzerland in 2004.

Kate graduated in 2005 with a degree in art history and a budding relationship with the prince.