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Britain’s royal family has not had much to celebrate lately, so the relief that the world will feel with the announcement that the Princess of Wales has completed a course of chemotherapy is going to be mirrored, and then some, at both Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace. Not only is it deeply welcome for both Catherine and her family, but it finally gives the Firm something to be relieved about. The Royals’ 2024 has been mired in disaster and embarrassment of various forms. Kate’s remarkable recovery is something to celebrate.
‘Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,’ Kate said
In a video message that Catherine put out, she announced that: “As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment. The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.”
As ever, she was skilled at finding the human touch, rather than the institutional one. She stressed her status as a wife and mother as well as Princess of Wales, saying: “This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.” Catherine concluded, affectingly, that: “Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus.”
Unlike the deeply moving and sombre message that the princess put out earlier this year to confirm her cancer treatment — amidst a million hot takes about what was really wrong with her — there was no sense of urgency about this announcement, although there had been the usual drumbeat of speculation as to when Catherine might be in a position to re-enter public life. Inevitably, there will be those who now start demanding that she resume a busy schedule of engagements and events. But this would be an extremely bad idea, both for her health but also because it would contribute to a sense of the royals as being on hand whenever they are expected to be; they are as entitled to recover from severe ill health as anyone else in the world.
This is not a time for celebration as much as it is relief. There are many other problems and difficulties for the royal family at the moment; the king is still undergoing treatment for his own illness, and, of course, the Dukes of York and Sussex are perennial irritations who are not going away. But this is, for once, some unequivocally good news that anyone with a heart and degree of compassion cannot fail to be cheered by.
This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.
