Friday on social media Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, thanked the public for their support. At the same time, Middleton was letting the public know she had been diagnosed with cancer. In her message, she says “I wanted to thank you personally for all of the wonderful messages of support.”

In January, Kate underwent a successful abdominal surgery in London. She says at the time it was “thought her condition was non-cancerous”, but doctors advised her to undergo preventive chemotherapy because they found cancer had been present.

The 42-year-old mom of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis shares that she is in the early stages of her cancer treatments. For the sake of her young family, she has been private as the news came as a “huge shock after an incredibly tough couple of months”.

The princess shares that she tells her family she is well.

“And getting stronger every day. By focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body, and spirits,” she adds.

Kate Middleton’s Family Photo

The wife of Prince Williams had been missing from social media since late December. But, her name was circulating in the media for weeks regarding her health and well-being. The last update before the cancer announcement came earlier this month. The princess and her children were captured in a photo on Mother’s Day in the U.K.

On March 10th Kate was seen seated in a chair, Hugging her children in good spirits. The photo was credited to her husband and later discovered to be edited. Kate took the blame for the editing job.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” the princess said on social media Monday. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”