Kate Middleton Will Likely Not Attend Easter Services With Royal Family After Announcing Cancer Diagnosis

Princess Kate Middleton will not be attending the royal family’s Easter service after announcing she has cancer.

“They are going to give updates when there are updates to give, we’ve had this before,” CNN reporter Max Foster said on Friday, March 22, after the Princess of Wales, 42, revealed her recent diagnosis. “This is as far as they’re going to go for now in terms of information. She will appear, I think, at some point. We were expecting to see her at Easter services next weekend, that’s not going to happen I’m told.”

After months of speculation about her wellbeing following her surgery earlier this year, Kate released a video opening up about her health struggle.

“I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I’ve 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’m so grateful,” she said in the clip released on X. “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.”

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The princess revealed that the news was a “huge shock” to her, husband Prince William and their whole family. Kate shared that it took some time to share the news of her condition with their three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. Kate revealed she has begun the “early stages” of “preventive chemotherapy” but did not disclose the type of cancer.

“William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she continued. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.”

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Before revealing her diagnosis, it was expected that Kate would make her first official royal appearance at the Easter service. The Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes reported that Kate was “doing well” and was “on track” to attend church with the rest of the royal family.

The royal family typically celebrates the spring holiday in Windsor and attends service at St. George’s Chapel, which will take place on March 31. William and Kate’s children also have knelt a month-long break from school. Typically, the family spends the Easter holidays at Anmer Hall, which is part of the Sandringham Estate. However, with Kate’s condition, the family’s plans are up in the air and they have yet to confirm their schedule.