Kate Middleton’s Cancer Diagnosis Timeline, A Year That Rocked the Royal Family

British royal family news reveals that one year ago this month Princess Catherine made an announcement that immediately made her more relatable as a person, but in a manner that none of us would wish for her or ourselves.

We now know that in 2024 Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer and successfully completed preventative chemotherapy treatment. Here is a timeline of the events that rocked the monarchy.

January 17, 2024

On January 17 the public were made aware that Kate Middleton had undergone planned abdominal surgery at The London Clinic the day before.

There was no forewarning and the fact that she would remain hospitalized for 10 to 14 days, plus away from official duties until after Easter, shook royal fans.

Kensington Palace’s announcement was brief and left the public with more questions than answers: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”

In a stunning turn of events, hours later Buckingham Palace announced that that King Charles was scheduled for a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate at the same hospital the following week.

January 29, 2024

Both palaces confirmed that Charles and Kate had been discharged from the hospital with the news that “Future updates on Kate’s progress would only be provided when there is significant new information to share.”

Sadly, as the weeks went by social media and a few nasty celebs (Kim K. Blake Lively, Chrissy Teigen) engaged in rampant conspiracy theories resulting in this statement from Prince William on March 6: “His focus is on his work and not on social media.”

The unrelenting speculation led to an unprecedented March 22, 2024 video message from a wan looking Kate in which she “shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy.

February 5, 2024

Buckingham Palace announced that the king had been diagnosed with cancer that was discovered during while being treated for a benign enlarged prostate. According to E! “The palace told NBC News it was not prostate cancer, but no other details were provided.”

March 10, 2024

On Mother’s Day in the U.K. a photo credited to William was posted to Instagram and X. It showed Kate and her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

Within hours the Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse “removed the photo from their databases and issued advisories to clients—known as a “kill notice”—to remove and/or not run the image.”

That’s because the AP retracted the image due to an “inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.” That was enough to engender accusations of Photoshopping, AI, and worse at a time when the family least needed the mudslinging.

Later that month more stress was added when The Information Commissioner’s Office announced that there was a records breach “at The London Clinic where Kate had surgery.”

To close out a difficult month, on March 22 Kate released a video message in which she addressed being diagnosed with cancer and participating in preventative chemotherapy: “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 made two appearances last summer, at Wimbledon and Trooping the Colour. In September she announced that she was cancer free and in December hosted her annual Christmas Carol Concert.

A Healthier 2025

Since the new year Kate and Charles have taken on light duties but “details still haven’t been particularly forthcoming—neither Kate nor Charles has shared what type of cancer they were treated for.”

Hopefully the royal family continues on in the healing process but it is wild to look back and remember how out of control the narrative around Charles and Kate’s cancer announcements became.

What did you think at the time, royal fans?

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