LONDON — On Friday, Princess Kate of Wales said she is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer — an announcement that comes amid what has not been a good year so far for Britain’s royals.
The “royal health shock” first made headlines when palace officials announced that both King Charles III and Kate had health problems. The lack of information about Kate’s health and whereabouts fueled a rapidly growing rumor that made its way from the margins of social media to front pages around the world.
Distrust of the monarchy deepened after Kate admitted she edited an official family photo, and palace officials have struggled to regain control of the narrative as speculation and conspiracy theories persist.
Here is a timeline of recent events related to the royal family:
December 25, 2023: Kate joins Prince William, their children and other members of the royal family for the Christmas service at Sandringham, the royal estate on the east English coast. This is the princess’s last public appearance.
January 16, 2024: Kate, 42, is admitted to a London clinic and undergoes abdominal surgery. The news is not announced until the next day.
January 17: Kensington Palace reveals that Kate is recovering from a planned operation. Officials say her condition is not cancer-related, but they did not say what surgery it was, only saying it was successful. She says she will remain in a private hospital for 10-14 days and will stay away from public view until after Easter.
Buckingham Palace announced the same day that King Charles would be treated for a benign enlarged prostate.
January 21: Prince Andrew’s former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, says she has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
January 26: King Charles is admitted to a London hospital for three days for treatment for his prostate.
29 January: Kate and Charles are both released from hospital. Charles was photographed leaving the hospital with Camilla and waving to well-wishers. Kate has not been pictured leaving the hospital, but officials say she is “making good progress” and will continue her recovery at home.
5 February: Buckingham Palace announces that Charles has cancer and will receive treatment. Officials did not say what type of cancer King had.
February 7: Prince Harry arrives in the UK from California to meet his father. He leaves the next day.
27 February: William pulled out of the memorial service for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece, at the last minute due to a “personal matter”. The palace declined to elaborate but said Kate continues to perform well.
Later the same day, Buckingham Palace said Thomas Kingston, the son-in-law of Prince Michael of Kent, has died aged 45. Prince Michael is a cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
1 March: The inquest heard that Thomas Kingston had died from “traumatic head wounds” on 25 February. A gun was found near his body at his parents’ home.
March 4: A photo purportedly showing Kate traveling in a car with her mother Carole Middleton in Windsor circulates on social media. It has been published by some international news outlets but not in any UK newspapers.
March 6: People magazine quotes a royal spokesperson as saying that William is “focused on his work, not social media.”
March 10: To celebrate Mother’s Day in Britain, Kensington Palace released a photo of Kate surrounded by her three children. The first official photo of the princess following her surgery was retracted hours later by the Associated Press and other news agencies over concerns that it had been digitally manipulated.
March 11: Kate apologizes for “confusion” on social media, amid a new round of speculation about her health sparked by an edited family photo. She says she “occasionally experiments with editing”, like many amateur photographers.
March 16: The Sun newspaper publishes a video reportedly showing a smiling and relaxed Kate shopping with William at a farm shop near their Windsor home.
March 20: The Information Commissioner’s Office says it is investigating a report that at least one member of staff at a London clinic tried to spy on Kate’s medical records while she was a patient in hospital.
22 March: In a video address, Kate announced that she was undergoing cancer treatment, including preventive chemotherapy. She says she is fine and getting stronger every day, but she needs to focus on her recovery.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
