
There’s no doubt that as a member of the royal family, Kate Middleton received some of the very best care while undergoing chemotherapy at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital last year. But there’s one thing she was missing that other patients did get to have: camaraderie and support from others going through the same thing. According to one royal insider, this means that Kate’s battle with cancer was a “pretty lonely” one.
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Although Kate was afforded the opportunity of having total privacy while she underwent treatment in 2024, it unfortunately did come at a price, as a source told People this week.
“Going through the back door unseen while going through the treatment must have been pretty lonely,” the source said. “When you see these other people when they’re having their chemotherapy, they were doing it as a group, with a support mechanism.”
It seems that the first time Kate was truly able to interact with other patients was during her surprise visit to Royal Marsden earlier this month, where she thanked the staff for taking such good care of her. One patient who had the chance to chat with Kate, Katherine Field, said it was “just like talking to a friend.”
Another royal source admitted that this time in Kate’s life has been “harder than we perhaps thought” it would be.
“She has been through a lot, and it has been a rough road,” the person shared. “Serious illness like cancer does change you. She has a young family, and it makes you rethink everything – your purpose and what you want to do with your life.”
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Royal historian Amanda Foreman also weighed in on the situation, telling People that visiting Royal Marsden was likely “beyond draining” for Kate after all that she’s been through.
“She’s like a gold medal Olympic skater, where they make their moves look so easy, but you forget that it requires incredible skill and self-control and discipline,” Foreman said. “What the treatment has done is remove a filter and create this immediacy between her and the public. I can’t think of a working royal who has ever done that.”
Now we know that Kate is officially in remission and is able to move forward with the next chapter of her life. But looking back, the public will never truly know what this experience was like for Kate.