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For those of you who saw the headline, and inwardly screamed, we haven’t cared about the British Royal Family in 248 years, naff off. I wouldn’t make a good British subject because I am not a “subject” kind of girl. That doesn’t mean that I cannot respect and admire the lives of service, honor and duty that most of them live. You couldn’t pay me enough to do all that work. That’s why I admire Catherine, Princess of Wales, so much. Although, my admiration first began with Princess Anne and the words “Not bloody likely”.
Many moons ago, when I was still a child, a man attempted to kidnap Anne, the Princess Royal. Princesses and ladies are not meant to be collapsing at the drop of a tiara, as we are led to believe. They are supposed to handle their business without fuss and muss. Anne was the perfect princess.
#OTD 1974 – Princess Anne was the victim of an attempted kidnapping when her car was stopped on The Mall by an armed man who shot her protection officer, her chauffeur and a bystander.
When he demanded Anne get out of the car, she replied “Not bloody likely!”#PrincessAnne pic.twitter.com/AzCDUjx3CD— Kensington Blue (@kensingtonblue) March 20, 2024
So that is how I have measured ladies and princesses since 1974. We shall skip all of those intervening years until the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the became on their wedding day, married. She was Kate Middleton no more. She was Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and now Princess of Wales, upon her father-in-law’s ascent to the throne. And, she has never put a foot wrong. Difficult pregnancies, three times, no complaints. People grabbing at her and expecting her to smile all the time, handled with grace. A life of service. Most of the P and P of Wales’s costs are paid for by the Duchy of Cornwall, not the British subjects (I hate that word.).
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales are public people, but NOT PUBLICLY OWNED.
Back in January, Kensington Palace announced the Princess would be undergoing serious abdominal surgery, would be in the hospital for two weeks and would resume her duties at Easter. All good, right? No, that is when the ugly started on Social Media. She had a face life, she was dead, she had a Brazilian Butt Lift, she left William or William was cheating. “Where’s Kate?” became a hashtag.
That led to that bloody awful kerfuffle over photo editing.
This photo is breaking the Internet. It's been flashed across the world. Thank you, Prince William, for sharing this beautiful Photo of HRH and the Children on mothers Day HRH Catherine is looking fantastic ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/DFqkTndssD
— Queen Camilla (@Shaz204727916) March 10, 2024
By the way, Happy (British) Mother’s Day!
Sitting on a bench in Windsor Park, Catherine, Princess of Wales made the announcement of her cancer diagnosis and preventative Chemotherapy:
My heart is breaking for her. I have not yet (knock wood) had cancer, but I have had major abdominal surgery. It does take quite a bit to recover from any kind of abdominal surgery. The New York Times actually did a nice write up on abdominal cancers:
Although it is not known what type of cancer Princess Catherine has, oncologists say that what she described in her public statement that was released on Friday — discovering a cancer during another procedure, in this case a “major abdominal surgery” — is all too common.
“Unfortunately, so much of the cancer we diagnose is unexpected,” said Dr. Elena Ratner, a gynecologic oncologist at Yale Cancer Center who has diagnosed many patients with ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and cancers of the lining of the uterus.
Without speculating on Catherine’s procedure, Dr. Ratner described situations in which women will go in for surgery for endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found elsewhere in the abdomen. Often, Dr. Ratner says, the assumption is that the endometriosis has appeared on an ovary and caused a benign ovarian cyst. But one to two weeks later, when the supposedly benign tissue has been studied, pathologists report that they found cancer.
In the statement, Princess Catherine said she is getting “a course of preventive chemotherapy.”
The Biden White House reacted through Karine Jean-Pierre and, naturally, got it wrong:
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reacted to the news of the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement on Friday, expressing condolences on behalf of the White House.
“We just heard the terrible news, our thoughts are with the Duchess of Cambridge…during this incredibly difficult time,” Jean-Pierre said during a White House briefing. “We are incredibly sad.”
She is the Princess of Wales. Dr. Jill was at King Charles III’s coronation in her surgical scrubs and gloves. She could have given you a tip. And, then Crooked Joe doubled down on wrong naming her.
Jill and I join millions around the world in praying for your full recovery, Princess Kate. https://t.co/jtLp8Uo23d
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 23, 2024
The British Royal Family is a FAMILY. That’s an important concept. They have been through Covid along with all of us. They lost Prince Phillip in 2021, Queen Elizabeth in 2022 and now both King Charles III and his beloved daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, have received Cancer diagnoses. Watching a family handle life with grace is meant to uplift all of us. In her video, Catherine not only discussed her own diagnosis, but her wishes for all suffering Cancer not to give up hope.
Living life with grace and uplifting others is a gift to the person and all of those around her. A Princess is as a Princess does. Be like Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Anne, the Princess Royal. Don’t suffer fools gladly. Wink, wink.
Featured Image: UK Government/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons
Cameron says: A lot more dignity than a lot of people would have at times like this.
Toni Williams says: Amen!
Cameron says: Here’s what impresses me the most. All joking aside about caring about royalty, she was not born into it. She married into it and she accepted all the restrictions that came with it.
Hate_me says: It’s very easy to look gracious when pity is on your side. Cancer is a shitshow, and even horrible people look pitiable and relatable in the face of it.
Catherine’s grace is not a product of cancer but a weapon she had already zeroed when it came to call. We should be judged by our humanity when at our least vulnerable, not our most – Princess Catherine should not be admired as much for her response to her cancer diagnosis as for her behavior prior to it.
Anyone can be kind and respectful when they need help. From all accounts, she’s been so even when she didn’t.
Toni Williams says: Absolutely. She has always been gracious and kind.
Que says: At a couple of other conservative websites I’ve seen the usual “who cares?” “We fought a war to be free from royalty!” (As if the current royal family had anything to do with that). Blah, blah, blah. ‘Murica!
So detractors spend time and energy writing screeds about how much they don’t care about a woman they supposedly don’t care about. Go figure.
The Princess’s story reminded me of some dark days in our family. When my husband was 41 — about Kate’s age — he was diagnosed with cancer. Our oldest daughter was 9 — just a year younger than Prince George is now. It was tough seeing her deal with that reality. Her grades even skipped a little. Fortunately treatment eliminated the cancer.
Now imagine dealing with that same scenario in front of the entire world.
I agree with you Toni. I think the Princess handled her press announcement with grace. Now let’s extend some to her.
Toni Williams says: God bless your family. We have to remember her grace and how greatly treatable most cancers are today.
BJ says: I thought the First Lady’s lavender dress and gloves were lovely.
And as someone who’s been in a lot of hospitals while my own mother and sister deal with breast cancer, I can say that medical staff almost always wear black or green scrubs.
Toni Williams says: I try not to be argumentative. Her Ralph Lauren ensemble was “cornflower blue”, not lavender. Her gloves were just wrong and her headpiece didn’t work. She looked like it was fascinator day at the hospital.
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