As celebrities and fans continue to weigh in on Princess Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager offered up some support for the Princess of Wales.
Bush Hager, 42, began the Monday, March 25, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna by sending “all of our love” to Kate, also 42, in the wake of her cancer announcement. Kotb, 59, compared Kate’s reveal to feeling like a “collective shock and gasp.”
Kotb, who is a breast cancer survivor, shared the many emotions she felt while watching Kate’s Friday, March 22, announcement video, from empathizing with Kate informing her young children of her cancer to praising the “bravery” it took for her to publicly share her diagnosis. (Kate shares kids Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, with her husband, Prince William.)
“When anyone has been diagnosed … what you feel inside is so shattering, much less to have to carry it, and much less to have to either feel like you’re forced to talk about it or defend it,” Kotb shared. “It’s, like, all these extra layers of stuff. I just thought to myself, like, ‘I can’t believe that she’s having to deal with that.’ And to see the apologies of people who were making fun or doing whatever, I’m sure she’s like, ‘You know what? It’s the least of my worries.’”
On Friday, Kate revealed that doctors discovered cancer following an abdominal surgery she underwent in January. The social media video was released amid online speculation about her health condition as the palace has previously remained tight-lipped on the reason for her surgery.
Among the many conspiracy theories surrounding her absence from royal duties, some fans believed she used body doubles during recent public appearances. Some would-be sleuths alleged that a video of her and William, 41, at a Windsor farmer’s market earlier this month was filmed months before her last public outing in December 2023.
Earlier this month, Kate’s medical records were the target of a security breach at The London Clinic, the hospital where she underwent her abdominal surgery. The palace previously confirmed that she would not return to royal duties until the spring and recently shared that she will resume work following her recovery.
On Monday, Bush Hager said she hopes that Kate’s cancer announcement can “teach us a lesson” when it comes to prying into the private lives of celebrities. “Just because somebody doesn’t come out with the words that you need to hear to satisfy whatever gossip you want right away, is none of our business,” she stated. “Maybe it’ll teach us to just, kind of, think, ‘OK, everybody’s suffering their own heartbreak, or not. But it isn’t our business to sort of push somebody into saying anything.’”
Kotb, for her part, praised Kate for acting with “grace” amid the online speculation. “When cruelty is countered by grace, you could just see what just happened. It was like everything just fell away, like, you felt it instantly. She handled it …” Kotb began, to which Bush Hager finished by stating, “Beautifully.”
In a statement shared with Us Weekly on Saturday, March 23, Kensington Palace revealed that Kate and William “are enormously touched” by the support they’ve received in the wake of Kate’s cancer news. “They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”
