Princess Kate Middleton sat in front of a field of daffodils while confirming her cancer diagnosis, seemingly a subtle nod to the fight against the disease.
Kate, 42, announced on Friday, March 22, that she had been diagnosed with cancer, detailing her condition and treatment plans as she sat on a bench on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Behind the princess were daffodils in bloom.
Daffodils have long been associated with cancer patients and survivors, symbolizing strength, resilience, courage, life and new beginnings. Since the flowers itself are strong and resilient plants that can bloom in a garden year after year, many patients have used them as a hopeful symbol during their cancer battles. There is also a Daffodil Day to celebrate survivors and patients, in which individuals wear the flowers pinned onto their lapels. Kate and her husband, Prince William, have been previously spotted wearing daffodil pins in solidarity.
Physical daffodils have also been proven to help stop the spread of the disease, according to 2018 research published by journal Structure. A scientist in Belgium found that a daffodil’s natural extract of hemanthamine (HAE) can help cells resist apoptosis, also known as cell death. In the study, HAE had activated an “antitumoral surveillance pathway,” which helped starve cancer cells of proteins needed to grow inside the body.
Kate has not publicly disclosed specific details about her cancer diagnosis, which she learned about last month.
“Kate went in for abdominal surgery and then they found out she had cancer,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly of her January procedure. “The day the family found out [she had cancer] was the day William canceled going to the memorial of his godfather King Constantine of Greece.”
Kensington Palace previously confirmed in February that William, 41, would not travel to the funeral of the late Greek monarch, who died in January 2023, because of a “personal matter.”
Neither the palace nor William revealed why at the time as he and Kate privately coped with her diagnosis.
“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,” the Princess of Wales said in her Friday video, noting she is in the early stages of a “preventative chemotherapy” treatment. “William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
She continued, “I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body and spirits.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales share three children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — and waited to publicly confirm Kate’s diagnosis until they could tell the kids first. In her Friday video, Kate explained that she spoke to George, Charlotte and Louis “in a way that is appropriate for them” and reassured them that she is “going to be OK.”
