Kate Middleton's most-trusted inner circle and friends rallying around the Princess of Wales after cancer diagnosis

Kate Middleton's most-trusted inner circle and friends are rallying around her after her shock cancer diagnosis, including her older sister, Pippa, and mum, Carole Middleton.

On Friday, 22 March, the Princess of Wales, 42, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer after undergoing major abdominal surgery in January. In a heartfelt video posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales' official Instagram account, Kate revealed that she is currently undergoing chemotherapy as she said: "I must focus on making a full recovery".

The unprecedented announcement came after months of speculation as to her whereabouts, despite Kensington Palace announcing in January that she was not expected to make a return to Royal duties until around Easter.

She said: "I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery. It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

"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."

She went on to say that "having William by my side is a great source of comfort" before asking for "time, space and privacy" whilst she completes her treatment.

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