IT was a smile that lit up a Windsor farm shop, and a bleak early Spring weekend and a nation.
When Catherine, Princess of Wales, appeared with her husband at that Windsor farm shop last weekend, that fabulous smile seemed to indicate that this national treasure was on the mend after her abdominal surgery. And now we know different.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” she said on Friday evening.
“The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.”
Now we know that Kate’s dazzling smile hid a world of heartache – and the diagnosis of cancer she revealed to the nation on Friday evening.
What courage to smile like that when you have had the diagnosis of cancer.
What grace and what dignity and what incredible bravery Kate showed in that short, impressive and devastating speech.
Two minutes and twenty seconds that will stay with us forever.
Yet even as she revealed this devastating news, Kate’s billion- dollar smile was still intact.
And her warmth, and her humanity, and her decency. She is still recognisably Kate.
And yet can any cancer diagnosis be anything other than shocking?
Learning that King Charles had cancer shocked the nation – and he is a man of 75.
And Kate is a healthy, sporty, athletic woman of just 42.
Kate radiates youth, health and a joy of life. Her diagnosis confirms what we knew already – cancer can touch any one of our lives.
The nation that loves her wishes her well, and a full recovery.
And requests – demands – that the rest of the world leaves her alone, and gives her all the space and time she needs for a full recovery.
This country needs her. We need her courage, her grace, her dignity.
And her unique blend of charm and warmth and humour.
She is – without question – the most cherished of the Royal Family.
She has grown into her role, and shines in it, and gives the Royal Family a youthful, charismatic warmth not seen since the days of Diana.
And I can give two good reasons why – against all the odds, against all the predictions – our Royal Family survived and thrived after the loss of the longest reigning and most beloved monarch in our nation’s history.
Kate – and Charles. The Princess of Wales and the King.
Both of them have helped to fill the enormous gap left in our national life after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles has been a greater king than anyone anticipated, displaying a masterclass in soft power, bringing diplomacy to a world where there are post-Empire wounds still yet to heal, and post-Brexit bridges that need to be built again.
Nobody could have been a greater ambassador for this country than King Charles III on his tours of Germany, France and Kenya.
And Kate has been the smiling human of the Royal Family, a centre of warmth and empathy and goodness, a princess who is growing towards the day she becomes Queen.
Like our late Queen – Kate gets it right. Her two minutes and twenty seconds address to the nation told us everything we needed to know.
Like the Queen’s speeches during the pandemic, it was absolutely word perfect – and deeply, almost overwhelmingly moving.
Charles and Kate have been the stars of the Royal Family after the loss of Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles – who waited so long for the throne – is the soul of the Royal Family. And Kate is the heart.
That they both now face their own private battles with cancer is a tragedy for them, and their families, and our country.
What cruel luck.
Cancer is never trivial. And yet there are reasons to be optimistic, and hopeful, and believe that these battles can be won
“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,” Kate said.
“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.”
We know Kate will receive the best medical treatment in the world.
We know she is surrounded by a family that loves her. And we know she is a fighter.
Queen Elizabeth made us all monarchists. Kate ensured that a nation kept on believing.
Tony Parsons
What she needs now, more than anything, is to be left alone.
God knows she deserves it.
She has been hounded in a cruel, merciless, mob-handed way that even the previous Princess of Wales, William’s mother, Diana, never had to endure.
Diana had packs of foreign paparazzi stalking her. Kate has had the entire internet hounding her.
Even Diana did not suffer the global tsunami of sadistic bullying that is inflicted on Kate. Enough. Enough. Enough.
What matters now is that a 42-year-old mother of three small children aged ten and under is given all the room she needs to beat cancer.
And all those who have bullied her in recent weeks – crawl back under your stones and hang your heads in shame.
Our heart goes out to her today. And to her husband. And to those three small children.
In the turmoil of recent years, after all the spite and poison spewed by Mr and Mrs Markle, and after all the lurid scandal heaped on the family by Prince Andrew, Kate has been a still centre of goodness, calm and decency.
Queen Elizabeth made us all monarchists. Kate ensured that a nation kept on believing.
These have been years of trauma and turmoil for the British Royal Family.
But if anything, the constant royal ructions caused by the whining runaways in California have made our people cherish Catherine, Princess of Wales, even more.
Kate is exactly what the modern royal should be. She is a 21st century woman who is steeped in the timeless majesty and sense of duty of the ages.
And she was never more impressive than when she revealed her cancer diagnosis to the nation.
This was history unfolding before our eyes. No member of the Royal Family has ever been so open, so honest, so forthcoming about something so deeply personal.
Her words to the camera had exactly the same calm, quiet resonance the late Queen spoke with when she addressed our nation during the height of the pandemic, when it seemed that forces beyond our control were tearing our old lives apart.
Kate’s absence, so necessary for her recovery, leaves a gap in our national life that nobody else can fill
Tony Parsons
Like the late Queen Elizabeth, Kate has a refined sense of duty.
Even as she spoke of her cancer diagnosis, she thought of those who are suffering from the same disease – but who are perhaps not surrounded by the love and attention that she has.
“At this time, I am also thinking of all those who have been affected by cancer,” she said. “For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.”
How could any human heart not go out to this brave young woman?
How could anyone not wish her well?
She has suffered far too much from the jeers, sneers and constant spite of the faceless, cowardly social media sewer.
Time to leave her alone now and give her the time, space and privacy to be restored to full health.
But let’s be honest – Kate’s absence, so necessary for her recovery, leaves a gap in our national life that nobody else can fill. And her country will miss her until she returns.
And until then, the nation will wish her well, and pray for her, and wait for the happy day when we see that dazzling smile again.
For all our troubles, Kate’s smile lights up the nation.
And beyond that smile is a woman of integrity, decency and courage.
Her fight against cancer – her dignity, her stoicism, her optimism, her courage – will inspire all those who have to fight their own battles against the disease, and all those who have to fight cancer in the years to come.
Cancer can touch any of our lives. Cancer can come for those we love. Cancer will touch one in two of our lives.
Most of us have our own personal experience of loved ones who have fought cancer.
“You are not alone,” Kate said at the end of her deeply moving film.
And the nation that loves her deeply will echo those words back to Catherine, Princess of Wales.
You are not alone, Kate.
