Before Princess Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer, she offered her support to Strictly Come Dancing pro Amy Dowden amidst her own health battle.
“I was lucky enough to meet her during my chemo treatment and she gave me so much time,” Dowden, 33, said on the Wednesday, April 24, episode of the U.K.’s talk show Loose Women. “She was so kind and actually her words [were], ‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do.’”
Dowden, a professional dancer on the British version of Dancing With the Stars, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2023. After undergoing a mastectomy, Dowden had a course of chemotherapy in fall 2023.
Several months later, Kate, 42, was also diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” Kate said in a March video released by Kensington Palace. “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’m now in the early stages of that treatment.”
The Princess of Wales continued: “[Prince] William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.”
Kate and William, 41, share three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 6. Further details about Kate’s diagnosis and treatment plans have not been publicly shared.
After learning about Kate’s diagnosis, Dowden could empathize with how the entire Wales family is coping with the news.
“Whilst I was going through treatment, I don’t think my parents slept,” the dancer, who took a leave of absence from Strictly amid her diagnosis, said on Wednesday. “I can remember getting the news and my sister saying, ‘Oh, Dad, will sleep tonight now’ because I could see the pain in their eyes [and] I can’t tell you how many times my parents would say they would do anything to take it away from me or them to have instead of me.”
Dowden added, “Also knowing she had to go through [her diagnosis] in the public eye, she’s got three young children and … I just don’t want anybody to go through it because it brings everything back. It’s still quite raw for me and it’s just a really cruel, cruel illness to have and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.”
Kate is not the only member of the royal family currently battling cancer. Her father-in-law, King Charles III, and his former sister-in-law Sarah Ferguson are also undergoing respective treatments.
