As the clock struck six on Friday evening and after days of preparation, the Princess of Wales shared the news of her 'shock'
cancer diagnosis. In an emotional video, Kate spoke of "an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family" as she shared her news and confirmed she is currently undergoing a course of chemotherapy that started in February. Sitting outside on a dark brown park bench, in front of a lush spring backdrop of daffodils, the mum-of-three confirmed she had, together with her husband
Prince William , 41, personally informed their three children Prince George , 10, Princess Charlotte , eight, and Prince Louis , five, of her diagnosis - but told them: "I am going to be ok". The video reportedly came after Kate wanted to tell her news to the world "as compassionately as possible". And in the days leading up to the announcement, she made several key actions... Farm shop outing Kate, 42, was admitted to hospital on January 16 for "major abdominal surgery", which has been confirmed as successful. At the time, it was revealed that she would be taking time away from royal duties to recover and would be back at work after Easter.
Kate Middleton made her 'one priority' clear and it will require 'all her reserves of courage', says expert Jennie Bond At the time of her operation, it was thought that her condition was non-cancerous, as no tests had confirmed the presence of cancer. However, post-operative tests confirmed that cancer had been present. Her short absence from public life had led to wild, cruel conspiracy theories on
Social Media about her whereabouts and health . But last weekend, she decided to visit Windsor Farm Shop with Willliam in a casual outing close to their home. In the video, Kate can be seen with her hair down, wearing a black top and leggings, carrying a large white bag following their shopping trip. Huge decision After the video of William and Kate at the farm shop went public, reports last week suggested the prince and princess "planned to be more open and honest" about her condition. And according to The Sunday Times , Kate's decision to share her cancer diagnosis was about speak directly to the public. The Princess of Wales has revealed her cancer diagnosis ( Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror) One friend told the publication: "It allowed her to speak directly to the public who, overwhelmingly, have always been with her and her family and who don’t buy into the noise and gossip." And it added that Kate wanted to show hope and solidarity with other people, who may be facing the same challenges as her and reassure the public she is "well and getting stronger every day". Wrote her own speech Once her decision to make the video was made, it is believed the process of filming it came together "very quickly" and Kate "wrote every word" of the speech . A friend told the Sunday Times: "A written statement, she felt, would be too jarring. It was about people seeing her, and her reassuring people that she was positive about it. Knowing it was news that was going to shock people, she wanted to do it as compassionately as possible. When things are really tough, that gratitude to the public for their support is their mantra" Filmed the video The filming of the emotional video came on Wednesday in Windsor with it being recorded by
BBC Studios. According to its website, BBC Studios, the principal commercial arm of the BBC group, is responsible for generating revenue and profits which are returned to the BBC to support the licence fee. The Princess of Wales in the video released on Friday ( Image: BBC Studios) It is understood the production team were asked to film the message after working on broadcasts of the King's Coronation and the late Queen's funeral. It is understood no edits were made to the video message and that BBC Studios had no editorial input into the message and were not involved in the finished film's distribution. In a statement, BBC Studios said: "BBC Studios filmed a message from the Princess of Wales at Windsor this week. We would like to wish Her Royal Highness a speedy recovery." Protected her children It was decided that the message would be released at 6pm on Friday and Kate and her family had a heartbreaking motive behind this - her children had by then broken up from school for the Easter holidays. William and Kate with their children along with Mike and Zara Tindall's oldest daughter Mia ( Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror) And in her video message, it became clear how she and William had put George, Charlotte and Louis first during this difficult time saying she and the Prince of Wales had been "doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family." In the heartfelt video address, Kate added: "As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK. As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits." Heart-to-heart with Charles Meanwhile, just a day before the video was released, it has been reported that Kate had a major heart-to-heart with her father-in-law King Charles, who also recently shared his cancer diagnosis. It is believed travelled from
London to Windsor to console his "beloved daughter-in-law" on Thursday in London after she had recorded her moving message to the nation, but before it aired on Friday evening. The Princess is said to have wanted to speak with the monarch to learn about his own struggle and to see how he'd been coping. A source told The Sun : "They would have had lots to discuss and share because just weeks earlier the King had begun his course of treatment and dealt with announcing his diagnosis. "The King left his lunch feeling very emotional. They are very close and he thinks of Catherine as his daughter. There is no doubt there is a lot they can share and can use each other for support during their own deeply personal cancer battles."