Kate Middleton reveals cancer diagnosis, begins chemotherapy

This weekend, Kate Middleton revealed to the media that, after months of speculation, she is battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Here's a brief timeline of the Duchess's last few months to help you catch up on any events you may have missed.

The year 2024 isn't even halfway over, but we can already confidently declare that the royals will not consider it a good year. Over the past two months, the media have been outdoing themselves with reports on possible reasons for the media absence of Kate Middleton, who stepped back from public life after undergoing a "planned abdominal surgery" in January.

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The weeks-long media absence of the Duchess only fueled rumors of a big secret, carefully kept from the royal family. The entire world was kept in suspense until Friday evening when the wife of William confirmed her countrymen's worst fears by announcing that she is battling cancer. The mother of three has undergone preventive chemotherapy, which currently represents the initial phase of her treatment. It's worth noting that a devastating diagnosis was recently received by two other royals: King Charles and Sarah Ferguson.

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Specially for you, we've prepared a timeline, in which we've included significant events from the past months in the life of the wife of the heir to the British throne.

The last public outing of Duchess Kate took place on the morning of December 25th, when she went to the Sandringham church for the Christmas service with William, George, Charlotte, and Louis. The beloved heir to the throne's mate wore a long, cobalt coat, navy boots, and an original headpiece in a slightly darker shade. At that time, nothing foreshadowed the events that were to unfold in the following weeks...

Just over three weeks later, on January 17th, Kensington Palace announced that Kate had been admitted to a London clinic, where she underwent abdominal surgery. The press spokesperson provided few details about her health condition, while assuring that the surgery was successful. The Duchess was expected to remain in the hospital for up to two weeks. A few hours later, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III would be treated for an enlarged prostate.

The next day, William was photographed as he was leaving the hospital where Kate was recovering from abdominal surgery. Although the paparazzi were lurking around the clinic 24/7, the son of Charles was captured in photos visiting his wife just once.

In early February, just a few days after Charles was hospitalized due to an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Palace officials announced that the king was diagnosed with cancer. The Palace did not disclose what type of cancer the monarch is battling. His spokesperson only emphasized that it is not prostate cancer. Doctors discovered the tumor during an earlier procedure.

On Mother's Day, a family photograph made an appearance on the Duchess and Duke of Wales's profile. Though it seemed that the photo of the Duchess with her children, which was published by Kensington Palace a few days ago, would put an end to the rumors about her disappearance, the opposite happened. It was noted that the photo had been subjected to a poor graphic editing.

Duchess Kate and Prince William were "caught" at a market while shopping. The recording of their participation echoed widely in the media. The author of the material decided to speak up, telling "The Sun" that Middleton seemed "happy and relaxed". Apparently, the spouses did not try to hide their identities.

On Friday evening, news reached the media about Kate's cancer. The Duchess revealed it personally, informing in an Instagram video that cancer cells were detected after she underwent abdominal surgery in January. The cancer was detected at an early stage, and Middleton has already undergone chemotherapy.