Marking a milestone on their family’s social media channels, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis penned a heartfelt message for their father, Prince William, on Father’s Day. This sweet tribute, signed “G, C, & L,”  marked the first time the young royals had directly contributed to their parents’ official social media presence. The post was accompanied by a heartwarming photograph, likely taken by their mother, the Princess of Wales, showcasing the close bond between Prince William and his children.

The post on X reads, “We love you, Papa. Happy Father’s Day”, followed by two red hearts.

The heartwarming photo, captured by Kate Middleton, shows a relaxed Prince William with his arms around his children, gazing out at the Norfolk coastline. The picture was reportedly taken during a family trip last month.

We love you, Papa. Happy Father’s Day G, C & L

The Princess of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/kI9AFV2XmT

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 16, 2024

Earlier on Sunday, William shared his own Father’s Day tribute to his father, King Charles III. The prince posted a photograph from his childhood, showing him playing football with the King in the gardens of Kensington Palace. The picture, taken on 12 June 1984, captures the nearly two-year-old prince smiling as he kicks a brightly coloured football. Just a few months after this photo was taken, William’s younger brother, the Duke of Sussex, was born.

The post is personally signed off by the prince, with the caption: “Happy Father’s Day, Pa.”

Happy Father’s Day, Pa. W pic.twitter.com/pjGuB2iLQ1

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 16, 2024

The Father’s Day post, featuring a football theme, could be a way to show support for the England team playing in Euro 2024 this evening.

Elgin, UK:

Facilities at Gordonstoun School in northeast Scotland include a climbing wall, rifle range and a five-hole golf course, while pupils can even avail themselves of bagpipe lessons.

But there is another reason why the institution in the far north of Scotland is well-known: one of its former pupils happens to be King Charles III.

It is hard to get more isolated than Gordonstoun, which lies near the city of Elgin, on the North Sea coast some 66 miles (106 kilometres) northwest of Aberdeen.

Getting there involves driving along narrow country roads.

Behind its gates are peaceful grounds stretching over 220 acres (90 hectares), with majestic trees and lush grass well watered by the Scottish rain.

Some 500 children and teenagers from about 40 countries attend the school, including Amelia Lee, 17, from Hong Kong, who has Charles’s old rooms.

“It’s just kind of surreal,” she told AFP, pointing out the desk where the future king would have worked and a chest of drawers from the time.

“To be honest, I don’t really use this,” she added. “I do store my snacks there.”

Lee was allocated the room after being elected class captain, just as Charles had been in his schooldays after initially sleeping in a dormitory.

Charles, then known as the Prince of Wales, spent his teenage years from 13 to 18 at Gordonstoun between 1962 and 1967.

His school attendance was a first at the time for a future British monarch, who until that point had been educated by a tutor.

“He was treated just as any other student,” said Gordonstoun principal Lisa Kerr.

Lara Croft

At the end of May, the king, now 75, agreed to become an honorary patron of the Gordonstoun Association of former pupils.

It was the latest public relations coup for the school, which has been working hard to dispel the idea that the monarch hated his time there.

Charles has often been quoted as describing his time at the school as like “Colditz in kilts”, likening it to the World War II prisoner of war camp.

The hit TV series based on the British royal family, “The Crown”, gave the reported comments wider currency.

But Kerr said: “We spent many, many months trying to find the origin of (“Colditz in Kilts”). We were not able to find it, so we have to accept it is a myth.”

Kerr accepted that his days would have begun with a morning jog to get the circulation moving, then a hot shower followed by a cold one.

Gordonstoun still provides a “challenging and broad” education, guided by the motto “plus est en vous” — “there is more in you” — to encourage effort.

On one wall pupils are told: “We don’t grow when things are easy. We grow when we face challenges.”

The school was founded in 1934 by a German-Jewish educator, Kurt Hahn, who fled the Nazis.

Among its first pupils was Charles’s father Prince Philip, who was married to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles’s younger brothers, Andrew and Edward, also attended it.

Other royal families also send their children to the school while Sean Connery’s son Jason and David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones both attended it.

The creators of “Tomb Raider” Lara Croft also imagined the adventurer as a former pupil after it opened its doors to girls in 1972.

Charles sent his two sons William and Harry to another elite school, Eton, near Windsor Castle, west of London.

Coastguard

Between classes, pupils wander around the Gordonstoun grounds in small groups in their sky blue and grey uniforms.

A third of the pupils are from Scotland, another third are other British with the remainder from overseas. Fees reach some £50,000 ($64,000) a year. Some pupils are on scholarships.

“It’s not just about passing exams and getting good grades,” said Kerr. “It’s about becoming a better person.”

Fees go towards a range of activities, from cricket and swimming, to tennis, hockey and sailing, while those more interested in music can have private lessons, including on the bagpipes.

One teenager sings in front of her classmates on the same stage where Charles once played Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Scottish play, watched by his mother in the audience.

All senior pupils must join one of the school’s nine community and rescue services. Amelia Lee is part of the Coastguard Rescue Team.

The pupils train with local coastguards on the cliffs above the sea.

“When it’s pouring down with rain… when it’s really cold, it teaches you about resilience,” Lee said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Prince Louis, the youngest son of Prince William and his wife Kate, stole the show today during the Princess of Wales’ first public appearance since surgery five months ago revealed the presence of cancer. The 6-year-old was seen dancing during today’s Trooping the Colour ceremony, which marks the official birthday of the British monarch, King Charles. Videos of Louis dancing have gone viral on social media.

In the videos, Louis is seen standing on Buckingham Palace’s balcony with Kate and his siblings – Prince George and Princess Charlotte – during the parade. He breaks into an impromptu dance and does not stop even after a mild scolding from his elder sister Charlotte.

Kate, whose royal name is Princess Catherine, is seen smiling as Louis continues his dance.

Prince Louis dances along to proceedings.#TroopingTheColourpic.twitter.com/nehvzkNQUm

— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) June 15, 2024

Minutes before Louis’ light moment, Kate rode in a carriage with her three children before disembarking to watch proceedings from a viewing point.

Crowds lining the streets waved and cheered as the carriage went past.

The appearance comes nearly three months after the future queen revealed she was receiving chemotherapy treatment. The 42-year-old princess had not been seen at a public engagement since a Christmas Day service last year.

Charles rode in a separate carriage with Queen Camilla, followed by Prince William, Charles’ heir and Kate’s husband, who was on horseback along with other senior members of the royal family.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, on Saturday made a tentative return to public life for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer, attending a military parade in central London to mark Britain’s King Charles III’s official birthday.

Kate Middleton, as she is widely known, rode in a carriage alongside her three children at the outset of the annual celebration before disembarking to watch proceedings from a viewing point.

It comes nearly three months after the future queen revealed she was receiving chemotherapy treatment. The 42-year-old princess had not been seen at a public engagement since a Christmas Day service last year.

In a Friday evening statement Kate Middleton said she was “making good progress” with her treatment, which is set to last for several more months, but was “not out of the woods yet”.

“I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer,” the princess said.

Kate Middleton’s announcement that she had cancer came just weeks after it was disclosed that her father-in-law, King Charles III, had also been diagnosed with the condition.

Neither has revealed what type of cancer they have.

British head of state King Charles, 75, was given the green light to resume public duties in April, after doctors said they were “very encouraged” by his progress.

His first engagement was meeting staff and patients at a London cancer treatment centre.

Earlier this month, he attended commemoration events in northern France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

‘Our future queen’

However, unlike previous years when he inspected troops on horseback at Trooping the Colour, King Charles participated this year from a carriage, in full military regalia alongside Queen Camilla.

His elder son and heir Prince William, 41, rode on horseback, also in military uniform.

Kate Middleton, wearing a white dress and hat, had been seen arriving by car at Buckingham Palace with Prince William and their children ahead of the parade, which formally began at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

Spectators on The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace to witness the yearly ceremonial event welcomed Kate Middleton’s tentative return to public appearances.

“I was so pleased to hear the news last night,” Angela Perry, a teacher in her 50s from Reading in central England, told AFP.

“She’s our future queen. She’s so important,” she added, calling Kate Middleton’s reemergence “reassuring”.

Royal officials will be keen to manage expectations about Kate Middleton’s gradual return to the public eye, and have maintained that her appearances will depend on her treatment and recovery.

Kate Middleton explained in her statement that she had “good days and bad days” and was “taking each day as it comes”.

After travelling with Prince George, aged 10, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis in a state carriage to watch the parade from a building, the family were set to return to Buckingham Palace for a balcony appearance.

Protests

Trooping the Colour marks the British sovereign’s official birthday and is a minutely choreographed military tradition dating back more than two centuries.

It starts at Buckingham Palace and moves down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, where King Charles will receive a royal salute before inspecting soldiers.

King Charles was actually born in November but the second birthday tradition dates back to King George II in 1748, who wanted to have a celebration in better weather as his own birthday was in October.

The ceremony has its origins in the preparations for war, where all regimental flags — or colours — were shown to the soldiers so that they would recognise them in the confusion of battle.

This year’s event will include three of five military horses that bolted through the streets of central London in April after being spooked by the noise of building construction.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it would mount a “significant” security operation and had been liaising with anti-monarchy group Republic, which kicked off protests at the event.

The force said it had banned “amplified sound” in and around the parade route on public safety grounds and to avoid disruption to the mounted regiments taking part.

Republic’s activists, who huddled on a section of The Mall alongside royalists, held aloft placards bearing slogans including “not my king” and “down with the crown”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday heaped praise on Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, as she shared a health update on her ongoing cancer treatment.

In a message, Kate said she was “making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days”. She also said she will make her first public appearance on Saturday since surgery revealed the presence of cancer in January.

Responding to her on X, formerly Twitter, Sunak said the Princess of Wales’ statement will be “especially meaningful” to those fighting cancer and their families.

“They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength,” he said.

The Princess of Wales’ statement will be especially meaningful to those who are fighting cancer and for their families.

They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength.

I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s… https://t.co/RBAtvtBjtn

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 14, 2024

“I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s Birthday Parade and I know the whole country is behind her,” Sunak, attending a G7 summit in Italy, added.

Kate Middleton Shares Update On Cancer Treatment

Kate Middleton on Friday said her cancer treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. She said that she was making good progress as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy but is “not out of the woods”.

The 42-year-old princess also expressed that she had been “blown away” by the thousands of kind messages from across the globe that followed her cancer announcement in March. She said the messages made a “world of difference” to her and her husband Prince William and them through “some of the harder times”.

“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well,” she said in a lengthy social media post.

She also tagged her picture — taken earlier this week in Windsor, west of London — standing in front of a tree next to a river.

“On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home,” she wrote.

Kate said that she is learning “how to be patient, especially with uncertainty”.

I have been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of months. It really has made the world of difference to William and me and has helped us both through some of the harder times.

I am making good progress, but as anyone going… pic.twitter.com/J1jTlgwRU8

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 14, 2024

“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal. Thank you so much for your continued understanding, and to all of you who have so bravely shared your stories with me,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s First Public Appearance In 6 Months

In what would mark her first public appearance in six months, Kate Middleton announced that she will attend King Charles’s annual birthday parade on Saturday with other senior royals.

“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour parade for King Charles’s official birthday will be her first public appearance since she was seen gathering with other royals for Christmas in December last year.

She had announced in a video in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer discovered following abdominal surgery.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Her announcement came weeks after King Charles revealed that he was being treated for an unspecified cancer.

(With agency inputs)

New Delhi:

Kate Middleton’s prolonged absence after her abdominal surgery in January sparked many conspiracy theories with Kensington Palace working overtime to douse the fire on social media. The buzz died down after the Princess of Wales, in a video, announced that she is undergoing treatment for cancer. However, Getty Images’ adding an “editor’s note” to Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement video has again sparked concerns.

The note, stating, “This Handout clip was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images’ editorial policy,” fueled speculation and conspiracy theories about the authenticity of the video.

In the video, Princess Kate is sitting on a bench in the garden of Windsor Castle. The royal explained that she is receiving “preventative chemotherapy” after tests following her abdominal surgery in January “found cancer had been present.”

Kate, wife of the heir to the throne Prince William, called the cancer discovery a “huge shock”.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Users on social media platforms questioned the rationale behind the note by Getty, with some suggesting it furthered doubts about Kate’s condition. Home to over 130 million images, Getty is the largest privately‑owned photographic archive in the world.

After the issue blew up, Getty issued a clarification stating that such notes are standard practice for handout content from third-party organizations. However, a lot of older videos of Britain’s royal family do not carry the disclaimer.

This recent note by the media aggregator has once again sparked concerns about the credibility of the photos and videos coming from the Palace.

Last month, leading photo agencies like AP and Reuters flagged Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo amid fears that it was heavily edited or fabricated. The Kensington Palace, which had released the photo, later issued a “kill order” for the image.

Kate Middleton, 42, has not been seen in public eye since an abdominal surgery for a non-cancerous but unspecified condition on January 16. Social media has been awash with speculation about her health, generating global headlines and rumours. Instead of calming fears over her health, the edited picture released by Kensington Palace sent the rumour mill into overdrive as media scrambled to pull the picture with a kill notice.

Kensington Palace said William, whose mother Princess Diana died in a car crash when she was just 36, would continue his duties while supporting his wife, as he had since her surgery. A source said Kate was in good spirits and focused on her recovery.

However, neither was present for the traditional gathering of royals for a church service on Easter Sunday at Windsor.

Kate was the first commoner to marry a prince in close proximity to the throne in more than 350 years when she wed William in 2011 and has since become one of the most popular royals.

London:

The revelation that Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, has cancer prompted a swift backlash over a torrent of lurid social media speculation around her health, including by those positing she was secretly dead. But the somber news has not stopped the seemingly endless churn of conspiracy theories.

Kate Middleton, 42, received an outpouring of global sympathy after her video message on Friday revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy, seeking to put an end to a maelstrom of unfounded claims circulated amid her monthslong absence from public life.

The manipulation of a royal photograph the palace released to the media, as well as the British monarchy’s culture of secrecy, had fueled much of the online speculation.

But the proliferation of evidence-free theories on social media — including posts peppered with skull emojis claiming the princess was dead or in an induced coma — illustrates the new normal of information chaos in an age of artificial intelligence and misinformation that has warped public understanding of reality.

The speculation took a serious turn last week when the British police were asked to probe a reported attempt to access her confidential medical records.

“Kate has effectively been bullied into this statement,” writer Helen Lewis wrote in US magazine the Atlantic.

“The alternative — a wildfire of gossip and conspiracy theories — was worse.”

Britain’s Daily Mail tabloid also lashed out, asking: “How do all those vile online trolls feel now?”

If social media posts are to be believed, they are not too sorry.

‘Cruel grifters’

Many on X, formerly Twitter, and TikTok claimed Kate Middleton’s video message was an AI-enabled deepfake.

Some users posted slowed down versions of the video to support the baseless claim that it was digitally manipulated, asking why nothing in the background — a leaf or blade of grass — moved.

Others scrutinized her facial movements and speculated why a dimple, as seen in previous images, wasn’t visible.

“Sorry House of Windsor, Kate Middleton (and) legacy media — I’m still not buying what you’re selling,” said one post on X.

“Actually not sorry – you’ve all read ‘The Little Boy That Cried Wolf’ right?”

And then there was misinformation about cancer itself, with posts falsely claiming that the disease was not fatal while comparing chemotherapy with “poison.”

And how could anti-vaccine campaigners be left behind?

Many of them jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon, baselessly linking Kate’s diagnosis to “turbo cancer,” a myth linked to Covid-19 vaccines that has been repeatedly debunked.

“There is no evidence to support the ‘turbo cancer’ lie,” said Timothy Caulfield, a misinformation expert from the University of Alberta in Canada.

Conspiracy theorists “are cruel grifters marketing fear (and) misinformation,” he added.

‘Seed of doubt’

The proliferation of wild theories highlights how facts are increasingly under scrutiny on a misinformation-filled internet landscape, an issue exacerbated by public distrust of institutions and traditional media.

The same distrust, researchers say, has tainted online conversations about serious issues, including elections, climate and health care.

“People don’t trust what they are seeing and reading,” Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, told AFP.

“Once a seed of doubt has been sown, and people lose trust, conspiracy theories are able to gain traction.”

The rumor mill surrounding Kate Middleton spiraled since she retreated from public life after attending a Christmas Day church service and undergoing abdominal surgery in January.

Conspiracy theories exploded after the princess admitted to editing a Mother’s Day family portrait, a move that prompted news agencies including AFP to withdraw it.

Conspiracy theorists went down a new rabbit hole when a subsequent video emerged showing Kate strolling in a market with her husband, baselessly asserting that she had been replaced by a body double.

“When it comes to an institution as old and opaque as the royal family, public distrust creates an appetite for a lot of sleuthing,” Dannagal Young, from the University of Delaware, told AFP.

Social media hashtags about the princess gained such virality that many users began using them to promote unrelated posts about topics that receive far less traction, including human rights abuses in India and the Middle East.

What made the frenzy worse, researchers say, was a culture of royal secrecy and the seemingly botched PR strategy of the palace.

“To be honest, the palace could have nipped the situation in the bud much earlier,” Douglas said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

After weeks of wild speculation, British people on Saturday digested the shock news that Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, has cancer, many praising her courage.

Others criticised the conspiracies that spread over her absence.

Kate Middleton revealed the news in a highly personal video released Friday, just weeks after King Charles III said he too is battling cancer.

The candid disclosure leaves the British monarchy in crisis with two of its most senior members simultaneously fighting serious illness.

Charles — 17 months into his reign when Buckingham Palace announced in February he would be cancelling all public engagements — led tributes to his “beloved daughter-in-law”.

The ailing 75-year-old monarch spoke of his pride in “her courage in speaking as she did”.

Following other warm words from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the White House, British newspapers hailed the courage of the 42-year-old wife of Prince William, heir to the throne.

“Kate, you are not alone” read the front of The Sun. The tabloid said it was “hugely comforting” to hear Kate say she was getting stronger.

“Perhaps the world will now appreciate why so much secrecy surrounded her surgery in January,” it added.

The Daily Mail tabloid denounced the “social media trolls who have been peddling disgusting conspiracy theories to explain her absence from public life.”

‘Privacy’ demand

Outside Kensington Palace in London, Nathaniel Taylor, a 24-year-old government worker, said: “I think it’s really damning what happened to them, what the media has done, how they’ve reacted over these past couple of months.

“I think some speculation is inevitable but the lengths people were going to try and make things up it’s just (too much). Hopefully people take a look in the mirror.”

At Tower Bridge, Sofia, a 19-year-old student who did not give her family name, said she had seen “weird accusations” about the absence and that the true reason was “sad”.

“Obviously it was a much (more) serious matter”, she said.

In her statement, Kate, as the princess is widely known, admitted the diagnosis was a “huge shock” and asked for “time, space and privacy” as she completes chemotherapy.

In the video — recorded Wednesday in Windsor, west of London, where the future queen and king live with their three young children — she insisted she was “well”.

She said it had taken them time to explain the situation to Prince George, aged 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Prince Louis, “and to reassure them that I am going to be OK”.

“William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Kate added.

Commentators commended the frank nature of the video, which showed the princess speaking directly to the camera while sitting on a garden bench.

“So many people will have been so moved by the way that she conducted herself during that two minute plus broadcast,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP.

“But there’s no doubt at all that it’s a very, very difficult time for the institution of monarchy,” he added.

Royal health woes

Buckingham Palace announced on February 5 that tests had identified Charles had “a form of cancer” without giving further details.

He has cancelled all public engagements except audiences with the prime minister and ambassadors, and worked on official papers while receiving treatment.

He has been photographed several times since then, and seen attending church.

Kate was last seen at a public engagement on December 25.

Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that she faced up to two weeks in hospital and several months’ recuperation following abdominal surgery.

She was not expected to be ready to return to public duties until after Easter on March 31, a statement at the time said.

‘Doing their best’

But Kate disclosed tests after the operation “found cancer had been present” and that she was now undergoing “preventative chemotherapy”.

Kensington Palace said she would return to official duties “when she is cleared to do so by her medical team”.

“Preventive chemotherapy after surgery is given to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back in the future,” Andrew Beggs, a senior clinical fellow and consultant colorectal surgeon at the University of Birmingham, said.

He added it was “a bit like mopping a floor with bleach when you’ve spilt something on it,” noting chemotherapy “kills any spilt cells”.

In the meantime, the royal family is facing a staffing crisis with two members facing serious health duties and others stepping back from frontline duties.

William’s younger brother Harry and wife Meghan quit the royal frontline in 2020 and now live in the US, largely estranged from the family following the acrimonious split.

The king’s remaining brother Andrew is also out of commission, stepping down from royal duties in 2019 after a disastrous television interview in which he defended his friendship with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hollywood star Blake Lively has apologised for making fun of the photoshop fails of Britain’s Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, after the UK royal revealed that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

In an emotional personal video message released by Kensington Palace on Friday, Kate said the news came as a “huge shock” to her family and requested for “space and privacy” as she completes her treatment.

Lively apologised on social media for a joke that the 36-year-old actor had made at Kate’s expense during her “manipulated” photo controversy earlier this month.  “I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always,” the actor wrote on Instagram.

On March 10, the UK royal had posted a UK Mother’s Day photo of herself with her three children — George (10), Charlotte (8) and Louis (5). But soon after, the photo was pulled by multiple news organisations over concerns it had been “manipulated”.

Kate disclosed her condition in a video message recorded on Wednesday and broadcast Friday. It came after weeks of speculation on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalised in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.

The news comes as her father-in-law, King Charles III, is also undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.

Meanwhile, many Hollywood celebs wished speedy recovery to Kate in their messages on social media.

Actor Olivia Munn, who recently revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, commented on Princess of Wales’ Instagram post.

“Thank you for showing what it’s like to fight with grace and determination for yourself and for your family. Wishing you all the best,” she wrote.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis slammed those spreading conspiracy theories about Kate.

“This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of a health issue. That is a private matter. Do we not have better things to do and more important things to think about and be concerned about than this? It’s a really low point in our society when there are SO MANY crucial issues that need our attention,” she wrote.

Catherine Zeta-Jones posted on Instagram, “Wales and the World is with you HRH Princess of Wales. Love to you always.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, revealed she has been diagnosed with cancer and is in the “early stages” of treatment. Even though it is not known what type of cancer she has, oncologists have said that what she described in her video message – discovering cancer during a “major abdominal surgery” – is all too common. In her public statement released Friday, Kate said the diagnosis came after undergoing abdominal surgery in January. Her condition was initially thought to be non-cancerous, but later tests “found cancer had been present,” she said. Now, without speculating on Kate Middleton’s procedure, here’s what experts say they know about the UK princess’ cancer.  

Speaking to the New York Times, Dr Elena Ratner, a gynecologic oncologist at Yale Cancer Center, described situations in which women will go in for surgery for endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found elsewhere in the abdomen. Dr Ratner said that often the assumption is that the endometriosis has appeared on an ovary and caused a benign ovarian cyst. But a few days later, when the supposedly benign tissue has been studied and tested, pathologists report that they have found cancer. 

The doctors also noted that Kate said she is getting “a course of preventive chemotherapy”. This too is common, they said, explaining that in medical settings, this is usually called adjuvant chemotherapy. 

Also Read | Kate Middleton Third UK Royal To Face Cancer. Here Are The Other Two

According to Dr Eric Winer, director of the Yale Cancer Center, with adjuvant chemotherapy, “the hope is that this will prevent further problems” and avoid a recurrence of the cancer. It also means that “you removed everything” that was visible with surgery, said Dr Michael Birrer, director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 

You can’t see the cancer because microscopic cancer cells may be left behind, Dr Birrer added, as per the Post. Chemotherapy is a way to attack microscopic disease, he explained.

Separately, speaking to CNN, Dr Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, explained that preventative chemotherapy is often used after surgery as an “adjuvant” therapy, to weaken the chances of cancer returning. 

Notably, Kate Middleton had been mostly absent from the public eye since her surgery in January, causing speculations about her health to swirl. Moreover, the shock diagnosis comes after the UK’s King Charles III was also diagnosed with cancer following a procedure for an enlarged prostate.