Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales Known as familiarly as Kate Middleton, Catherine, Princess of Wales, married Prince William in 2011. She is the mother of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

Kate Middleton News: Princess of Wales Reveals She’s Receiving Treatment for Cancer

Kate Middleton has finally revealed the reason for her public absence: She is undergoing treatment for cancer. In a two-minute video message posted March 22, the Princess of Wales, 42, explained she is in the early stages of “preventative” chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer. She said the disease was discovered following the successful abdominal surgery she underwent on January 16.

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 said, referencing her husband. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken time for me to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to [our children] George, Charlotte, and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them and to reassure them that I’m going to be OK.”

Kate said she is “well and getting stronger every day” but asks for “time, space, and privacy while I complete my treatment.” She is the second British royal family member to be diagnosed with cancer this year. Buckingham Palace announced February 5 that King Charles III also has the disease.Due to her surgery, Kensington Palace had shared in January that the princess wasn’t expected to return to her royal duties until after Easter, on March 31. However, her lack of public appearances left clamoring fans to speculate on her health condition and gossip about her whereabouts. Online conversation intensified after the Palace shared a photo of Kate with her three children in honor of Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom on March 10. However, news agencies around the world retracted the photo’s distribution after discovering the picture had been manipulated. Kate then took to social media to apologize in her first public statement in months.According to the BBC, Kate and William won’t appear with the rest of the royal family on Easter Sunday. Multiple news outlets report the princess won’t return to her official duties until “she is cleared to do so by her medical team,” per a Palace statement.

Kate Middleton is a member of the British royal family whose official title is Catherine, Princess of Wales. The Reading, England, native is married to Prince William. The royal wedding was held in April 2011 at London’s Westminster Abbey amid an international media frenzy. The couple has three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. In March 2024, Middleton revealed she is undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer that was discovered earlier this year.

Kate Middleton—officially known as Catherine, Princess of Wales—was born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton on January 9, 1982, in Reading, England. Her parents are Michael and Carole Middleton. Her younger sister is Pippa Middleton, and her younger brother is named James.

On her mother’s side, Kate came from a decidedly working-class stock of coal miners and builders. Her maternal grandmother, Dorothy Goldsmith, pushed her children to aim high. As a result, Kate’s mother became an airline hostess—at the time, a considerably glamorous job.

It was on this job at British Airways that Carole met Michael Middleton, an airline dispatcher, whose wealthy family hails from Leeds and which has ties to British aristocracy. The couple married soon after.

In 1987, her parents founded a mail-order party goods company. The business was a surprise success, eventually making the Middleton family multimillionaires. As a result of their parents’ business and newfound income, Kate and her siblings didn’t want for much.

Kate attended exclusive boarding schools, including St. Andrew’s Prep School, Downe House, and Marlborough College. Her time in boarding school didn’t come without its conflicts. Kate left the exclusive Downe House all-girls boarding school at age 14 due to bullying and taunts from other students.

On her first day at co-ed Marlborough, some particularly mean-spirited boys began rating incoming students based on attractiveness and personality. They gave Middleton a two out of 10. Despite the initial setbacks, she did well in her studies, passing 11 GCSEs and three A-level exams.

Middleton met Prince William at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, when she became a student in 2001. They lived in the same dormitory at college, St. Salvator’s Hall, and shared several classes in their course schedule. Soon, they became friends.

While they often shared breakfast and walked to classes together, the two weren’t interested in each other romantically at first. Middleton was dating senior Rupert Finch, and William was busy dealing with the press and struggling with his feelings about his new school.

Royal Romance

In March 2002, Middleton appeared in an exclusive fashion-show fundraiser wearing a revealing dress. William was also present at the charity event and became intrigued and interested in Kate in a new way. He attempted to engage her romantically that evening but, still in a relationship with Finch, Middleton spurned the future king’s advances.

At the end of the 2002 school term, Middleton’s boyfriend graduated, and the couple soon parted ways over issues of distance. Newly single and entering her sophomore year, Middleton and several friends were invited to share a flat with William, a setting that allowed their budding romance to blossom.

At first, Middleton’s life didn’t change much. The couple kept their relationship a secret, mostly due to the prince’s extreme distrust of the press. The couple agreed not to hold hands in public or be seen sitting together at dinner parties. This seemed to throw off the press for the most part.

But in 2004, Kate was caught by paparazzi while on a royal family ski trip. Her relationship with William became the subject of intense scrutiny, and by 2005, she was a tabloid favorite. The two graduated together that summer, with Middleton earning an honors degree in art history.

In February 2006, it was announced that Middleton would receive her own 24-hour security detail from the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department. This led to rumors that Middleton was being groomed for a position of royalty. However, with William headed off to a military academy, Middleton was faced with tending to the paparazzi frenzy alone.

Alleged Split

In April 2007, Middleton and William were believed to have split. Allegedly pressured by the royal family to either propose or let Middleton move on with her life, William apparently broke off the couple’s five-year relationship over the phone.

Media reports said otherwise, however, as Middleton was spotted at several royal events accompanied by the prince only a few months later. Other rumors indicated that the couple was living together. Both parties denied the rumors.