Comment from the user BUNTE.de Royal expert Larissa Jerger

The past three months have honestly felt like a nightmare from a royal perspective. Yes, royal reporting thrives on nice and light topics in the entertainment genre. It's okay that not everyone is enthusiastic about monarchies, royal families and their history. And yet current events around the royal family are breaking boundaries. What is happening now is anything but nice and simple – it is sad, overwhelming and shocking.

The Year of Horror for the Windsors: King Charles III. & Princess Kate are fighting cancer

News about the health of Princess Kate, 42, has been swirling since January 17, 2024, the day it was announced that the Princess of Wales would be out until at least Easter after elective abdominal surgery. The Palace announced earlier this year that the strictly private health problems of Prince William's wife, 41, “are not cancer”. A good 90 minutes later, the palace announced – also on January 17, 2024 – that King Charles III. (75) has to undergo surgery due to an enlarged prostate. Nine weeks later we know that both the King and Princess of Wales have cancer. It is the sad culmination of a horror year for the British monarchy.

After the speechlessness, the shock and the fear, what remains is the admiration of Kate's strength

However, Catherine's illness shows once again that fate can unfortunately strike anyone – and caution is essential. Even two days after the release of the statement in which the princess informed the public of her cancer, the shock still runs deep. What remains beyond the speechlessness, bewilderment and fear is admiration for Kate's strength.

The fact that Catherine Middleton has always been a tough, tough and resilient woman will come as no surprise to any die-hard royal fan. She gave up her whole life for the love of Prince William. With the example of Duchess Meghan (42), we have seen that a new beginning in the palace cannot make everyone happy. Whether as a commoner, a duchess or most recently a princess, Kate has always managed to navigate her way between strict rules, often dusty traditions and the desire for modernity. For example, at her wedding to Prince William in 2011, she wore her hair down, even though Queen Elizabeth II († 96) had clearly expressed her desire for a hairstyle. Kate's compromise was to tie a small section of her hair back at the nape of her neck. When the Duchess became a mother for the first time in 2013, she appeared outside the hospital with her little Prince George (now 10) – perfectly styled but still extremely human. Instead of trying to hide her baby bump with clothes, which of course hadn't magically disappeared, she accentuated it in a light blue dress and even folded her arms in the middle. Despite the huge differences, she appeared as a princess in September 2022 with her brother-in-law Prince Harry, 39, and his wife Meghan, to offer comfort to the nation after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Kate has also proven countless times to the world what a powerful woman she is. And yet, for me personally, the video message is without a doubt the bravest thing he's ever done. It's one thing to release a statement about a life-threatening illness. It's another thing to turn the written word into a spoken sentence – in front of millions of people.

For the British crown, Kate's illness means even more concern in already uncertain times

As a human being and as a princess, Kate, who spelled out every syllable of her two and a half minute speech, touched all of our hearts. The world goes out to him – and his family. The princess's illness poses major challenges to the British crown. The British royal family wants to give stability and security to society as a non-elected institution in the constitutional monarchy form of government. It's about diversity, acceptance and consistency. However, Charles and Kate's cancer cases raise concerns at a time that is already uncertain in terms of global politics. It must be an incredible relief for them that the King and Princess of Wales can count on people's unconditional support and can now fully focus on their treatment and hopefully recovery without any ulterior motives. Last but not least, this is where things come full circle because what Kate wanted to achieve with her video message was also a sense of connection. It is not for nothing that his statement ends with the words: “To all who are dealing with illness, in whatever form: please do not lose faith or hope – you are not alone.”