![Princess Eugenie Cherishes Family on Her Birthday Days After Kate Middleton Shares Cancer Diagnosis](/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/princess-eugenie-cherishes-family-on-her-birthday-days-after-kate-middleton-shares-cancer-diagnosis-01.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
Princess Eugenie turned 34 on Saturday, March 23, and she’s spending it holding her family extra close.
“The best gift of all are my boys… so on this birthday I’m cherishing family and loved ones. ❤️❤️❤️,” Eugenie wrote via Instagram on Sunday, March 24, sharing a photo of herself holding one of her two sons.
Eugenie, one of the daughters of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew, shares August, 3, and Ernst, 9 months, with husband Jack Brooksbank.
Ferguson, 64, also honored her youngest daughter’s special day. (The Duchess of York and Andrew, 64, also share daughter Princess Beatrice.)
“Happy birthday to my amazing daughter @princesseugenie. I am so proud of the incredible woman you have grown up to be,” Ferguson wrote via Instagram on Sunday. “You continue to amaze me every day in your hard work, your grace, kindness and the care you show to others. You will always be my silly, sweet, smart and thoughtful girl. I love you, Eugenie. Happy birthday.”
Eugenie’s birthday came amid a trying time for the royal family as one day earlier, Princess Kate Middleton confirmed that she is battling an undisclosed form of cancer.
![Princess Eugenie Cherishes Family on Her Birthday Days After Kate Middleton Shares Cancer Diagnosis](/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/princess-eugenie-cherishes-family-on-her-birthday-days-after-kate-middleton-shares-cancer-diagnosis-02.jpg?w=1000&quality=40&strip=all)
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” Kate, 42, said in a video released by Kensington Palace on Friday, March 22. “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.”
She 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 the 41-year-old Prince of Wales, who is one of Eugenie’s older cousins, share three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. William and Kate learned of the princess’ diagnosis in February, opting to publicly share the news after they had a chance to inform the kids when their school went on Easter break.
William and Kate have since been able to lean on members of the royal family, including his father, King Charles III. The monarch, 75, is also battling cancer, which Buckingham Palace announced in February without disclosing details.
It is an unprecedented time for the royals as Charles, Kate and Ferguson are all simultaneously battling cancer. Ferguson, for her part, found out in January she had skin cancer shortly after undergoing a mastectomy following a breast cancer battle.
Eugenie and Ferguson have yet to publicly address Kate’s cancer diagnosis.