we begin with major breaking news out of london. the princess of wales who has been absent from public life since undergoing abdominal surgery back in january announced diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. the announcement moments ago from kensington palace.

>> i wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding once i've been recovering from surgery. 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 am so grateful. in january i underwent major abdominal surgery in london and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. the surgery was successful. tests after the operation found cancer had been present. my medical team therefore at vised i should undergo preventive chemotherapy and i'm in the early stages of that treatment. this, of course, came as a huge shock, and 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 fachimagine this has

taken time. for me to recover from major surgery to start my treatment but most importantly it has taken us time to explain everything to george, charlotte and louis in a way appropriate for them and to reassure them that i'm going to be okay. as i said to them, i am well. getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal. in my mind, body and spirits. having william by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, too. as is the love, support and kindness shown by so many of you. it means so much. we hope you'll understand that as a family we now need some time, space and privacy while i complete my treatment. my work has always brought me a deal sense of joy and i look forward to being back when i'm able. but for now i must focus on making a full recovery.

at this time i also am thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer. for everyone facing this disease, in whatever for me, please, do not lose faith or hope. you are not alone. >> the princess of wales, a woman, a wife, a mother of three young children diagnosed with cancer and facing the road ahead. this news coming after weeks of speculation over catherine's health and well-being. seeing images here last seen of the princess walking out with prince william from a grocery store. i want to bring in nbc's meagan fitzgerald with more. shocking to say the least. many folks speculating what has been going on with the princess and she underwent abdominal surgery back in january. walk us through what more we know about this. >> reporter: yeah. this is extraordinary news

coming from kensington palace, hearing from the princess of wales herself and what is know doubt an extremely difficult obviously not only for her but the entire royal family. sources say you can see this as a red line for the palace. putting information out, letting the world see her, hear her and understand what the family is dealing with. because as you know, there has just been a swirl of speculation, rumors, conspiracy theories that are taking place around her whereabouts and well being. all of this triggered after we saw the first image of her released by kensington palace on what was mother's day here just a few weeks ago, that the ap and other news agencies said was altered. this is the palace taking a decisive stance here, letting the world know what is going on. quite extraordinary. as she said, she went into major

abdominal surgery back in january. at the time her condition thought to be non-cancerous. after released, tests were done, and it was determined that, in fact, cancer had been present. she said she had to heal from this major surgery before she was able to start preventative chemotherapy treatments for what is likely going to be a long road ahead of her. we heard her asking the public for privacy. a very sensitive situation. you mentioned she's a mother as well of three young children and had to explain to them she has cancer what this means, and that she will be okay but that she, again, is asking for privacy. we understand that, of course, easter is coming up just next week. we thought that we'd possibly see her and the family as they walk in windsor to st. george's chapel. we und we plikly will not see the family as easter service. in the statement it's important to note she said her duties are very important to her and that she will do what she can, but

her focus right now is trying to make a full recovery with a very serious and scary situation. >> meagan fitzgerald. if you will, please, stick with me through this major breaking news out of the uk. bringing in royal commentator,t broadcasters. incredible news out of kensington palace. bear with me. refresh folks what we got since the beginning of this ordeal with the princess. january 17th received a statement saying her royal highness, princess of wales admitted to hospital yesterday for planned about dom inal surge prip suctionful and expected she will remain in hospital 10 to 14 days. then on january 29th, the princess of wales has returned home to windsor to continue recovery from surgery and is making good progress. and then there was, of course,

the photograph released we found the photograph had, in fact, been doctored and an apology from the princess herself. react to the moment we're learning the princess has been diagnosed with cancer and the road ahead that she has. >> well, make no mistake, this is a crisis for the royal family. this is a real crisis. we've had marital rifts and family disagreements, haven't we, over the years? but now we've got the king, king charles, who's 75. we already knew was receiving treatment for cancer. we don't know what type of cancer, but he is receiving treatment for that. now we find that the future queen, kate, who's only 42, is also being treated for cancer. so that is a real crisis. i mean, the impact on that family is extraordinary, and

it's way beyond, in my opinion, all of the sort of controversies and stuff that we've been talking about before. of course, although we've seen kate on-camera and had a statement from kensington palace, there's still a vacuum of information. i'm not suggesting for a moment they should give more detail, but there will now be just as much speculation as before. what type of cancer is it? how serious is it? what's going to happen to the family and so on. so they're already fighting a losing battle in the sense of keeping the public informed. the other point to make is, kate is now the most popular member of the royal family. according to the latest polls. so for a lot of people this is going to be a huge blow. i mean, for me personally, i covered the very early days of william and kate. i remember their first public

appearance when she was still in her late 20s and it's quite, it is really quite shocking. i think most people will feel the same. >> i'm getting a statement in from the prime minister of the uk i'd like to read for you before we talk. in it she says, the prime minister says my thoughts are with the princess of wales, prince of wales, the royal family and in particular her three children at this difficult time. the princess of wales has the love and support of the whole country. she has shown tremendously bravery with her statement today. in recent weeks subjected to intense scrutiny and unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media. when it comes to health she must be afforded privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family. i know i speak for the entire country wishing her a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back in action when she is ready.

talk about, tim mentioned, a crisis for the royal family, but the prime minister said it there. a crisis for her three young children. >> yes. and clearly one of the reasons why it's so private is precisely because they need to -- bipartisan of worldwide news. and also a crisis for william. he has a father who has cancer and a wife who has cancer, and you can imagine the strain that he must be under. the one date in the schedule you mentioned that we didn't mention yet is the 27th of february, which was the day when he pulled out of a personal appearance and told because of a personal matter and kensington palace have now said he pulled out that day because that was the day it was diagnosed as cancer.

it was originally an abdominal surgery not thought to be cancerous, as the princess said in her statement and then later it was recognized that there was cancer and she needed preventative chemotherapy. one of the things tim is right that there will be speculation. this intervention, making this public, at least one hopes guarantees that it won't be speculation of the sort we've seen recently. which has been conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory circulating with trolls and social media, and picking on her, much the same way, of course, they seemed to pick on william in the past and now at least as she said, perhaps a moment of privacy and some sort of sense of respecting the family, going through something quite as challenges as having two major members of the family suffering with cancer and going through treatment at the same time. >> i want to make sure i just heard you correctly before

moving forward. we want to drill down on what it is that the princess is facing when it comes to her specific diagnosis, which we don't know a lot about, but you pointed out that date of february 27th. i'm looking at my timeline here and you're correct mentioning that prince william had resumed public engagements after some time off and the then subsequently pulled out at the very last minute at a memorial service for his godfather. did you say that you feel as if you have reporting to indicate that was the day that they had found out about her cancer diagnosis? >> yes. that's right. kensington palace, they've said the reason he was not at that appearance was because that was the day it was -- although, it was because, it says, because of the discovery of catherine's cancer diagnosis. that's why he was not at that memorial service. that gives us a timeline. 17th of january announced she was having the surgery, as you

said. everything was likely she would remain in hospital 10 to 14 days and at that time predicting she'd be back in public duties at around now. end of march. but then obviously they discovered that the cancer had been present, and she was advised by her medical team to take this course of preventative chemotherapy and that's what she's been doing for the last month. >> if you would both stick with me. with me throughout the hour as we grapple with this breaking news and kind of walk through what might be happening here. take a moment to bring in nbc news medical contributory talk more about that. doctor patel, the timeline. she had surgery on january 16th. that is when she was admitted for abdominal surgery. january 17th, again, kensington palace reveals it was for a

non-cancerous surgery. february 27th, learning from sorting, sourcing the kensington palace that is when they got the revelation of her diagnosis of cancer. what is this telling you? >> i mean, honestly, we still have unfortunately more questions than answers. it does kel me they didn't expect to go into that surgery finding cancer, but knew that was probably one of the possible consequences. and then that under, just the process, by the way, is actually looking at all of these pieces from the surgery and tissue under microscopes confirming the diagnosis. blood work involved. all can take time as well as coming together with a plan. i want to stress something. when you hear the word "preventative chemotherapy" it can be confusing. this is chemotherapy. ad's juvent lowering risk of

cancer when you find a cancer. abdominal cancer a lot of things that could be. anything from the uterus, uterus lining, ovaries. instead of speculating assume, take it for what we know. abdominal surgery. didn't expect to find cancer. knew it was a possibility. took time, several weeks, sometimes, to confirm that diagnosis. and then to come up with a plan more weeks after that and then a lot of people, i'm sure, wondering how long what kind of chemotherapy, depends on the diagnosis. it can last months, though. that is why you're seeing this timeline so consistent with, here we are as in months. i'll just say, like, you and i are not much older. kind of around the same age. you know, i get emotional thinking how i would tell my children. >> yeah. >> how this would play out on the world stage. end of the day what we're also trying to do, not talking about, medically we have to surround everyone as a family with

support, everything from caregiver support. she'll have endless resources obviously. but you're seeing humanity in that cancer has no boundaries. doesn't know anything about class, race, gender identity. cancer affects everyone. that's coming true. >> doctor, i know you have to go but i thank you for spending a little time. thank you. bring in a global health policy expert and msnbc contributor to pick up the conversation there. dr. patel is exactly right. a diagnosis like cancer at 42 years of age when you're a woman as the princess of wales is, a young mother. on the public stage. everybody is watching. every moment of your life. then to undertake kind of the emotional strain of a cancer diagnosis and the road ahead for someone who has to undergo chemotherapy. walk us through that.

>> well, you and dr. patel beautifully says what's facing the princess and frankly just the challenge this all playing out publicly. something we as physicians deal privately with patients and when it comes to treatment planning and what does this look like for families? they have to deal with this publicly. what i can say and just -- everything that has already been said is exactly correct. i will not engage in speculation but i do think it's important for the public to understand what we're looking at and what are the possibilities here. so without speculation, generally in somebody that's 42 years of age, which is catherine's case what could be going on here? not saying this is what is actually happening but what could be going on and give us comfort as to what her expected treatment course and recovery could look like? we do know amongst women broadly 18 years of age and older, leading, most commonly diagnosed cancer is breast cancer. colorectal, endometrial ovarian

and cervical the other most common in that order. 35 to 44 years of age usually cervical cancer and typically see signs and symptoms that need to be further diagnosed. radical hysterectomy requiring abdominal surgery is one approach. after any surgery, whatever it could be, there's multiple types of potential causes here for requiring an abdominal procedure, but say for this cancer what ends up happening after that procedure you have lab tests done to look and try to determine a diagnosis, and that's where especially if something is caught early regardless type of cancer is preventative chemotherapy is one standard of care and, two, connotes survival across various cancers that can be very high.

again, just looking at treatment that's occurred, the timeline you provided. what we're seeing an approach that's not uncommon, that cancer ends up getting diagnosed later in course of treatment, and that this preventative chemotherapy, hopefully find out more as information comes out it's ultimately a good sign. stage 3, stage 4 cancers have very good prognosis if diagnose early enough. 60%, 70, 80% survival rates. >> and cancer present. medical team therefore advised i should undergo as for of preventative chemotherapy and i'm in early stages of that treatment. when you think about the tests that are undergone after the

procedure, are we thinking a biopsy? is it removal of some sort of mass, if you're undergoing abdominal surgery? >> potentially. so again, just to be as concrete as possible. if say there is removal of an organ. if that's what's we're dealing with, removal of a mass what immediately happens right from the operating room that mass, that organ, is sent for path logic diagnosis under a microscope to see if there are cancer cells present. essentially every single surgery that occurs across the country, regardless of are indication, there's pathologist accompanies that postoperative process. something might be happening not top of mind, at least we're looking at all corners, we're looking across all potential diagnosis. every type of specimen out of the surgeic the o.r. is sent for evaluation to see if there is something we weren't thinking about that might be present.

that is common. that process. that revealed something was amiss and that ultimately cancer was diagnosed. again, when we think about abdominal surgery and this course over the last two months, especially in women 35 to 44 years of age, and that narrows a list of likely diagnosis to a few. cervical cancer at the top. endometrial, ovarian 5a and over. could be possible. thinking about a differential diagnosis and what's possible and why doing preventive chemotherapy? that's what we're probably most likely looking at here just to give a sense here to the audience what are the parameters of diagnoses might be as play most likely and it's important to realize, to reassure everybody, the general public, of course, in the united kingdom but across the world, the princess of wales is beloved, a beloved figure. it's important, princess catherine, rather. somebody, to keep in mind, will

have an excellent prognosis with preventive chemotherapy early after this procedure. whether cervical or dealing with something else, with this treatment course the hope she has an excellent prognosis with early indication of preventive chemotherapy. >> dr. patel walked us through this but important positive state again especially folks just joining us amid the breaking news. again, princess of wales diagnosed with cancer revealing it to the world in a public statement you see on the screen next to me. why the choice of preventative chemotherapy, and what that means exactly? >> sure. and again, in my commitment not to over-aspect late but provide guidance to all viewers. what typically happens here now we have a path logic diagnosis of cancer. didn't seem she was having symptoms that immediately convey cancer is, yes, absolutely present. this was a post-surgical

diagnose under a microscope. that looked at that, understood at a microscopic level what kip type of cancer was present. cervical cancer, say that's at play. an abdominal, radical hysterectomy is standard of treatment. typically we see in that specific use case, that specific diagnosis is excellent survival rates at five years. we look at survival rates at five years after initial court of treatment. what is that number? if this is what is actually happening here, this path logic diagnosis under the microscope after a major surgery, early initiation helps keep any recurrence of cancer at bay. it reduces that risk and really optimizes that five-year survivor rate. all viewers with a loved one battle cancer maybe they themselves battled cancer.

five-year mark. what can we expect? after surgery plus, minus keep oh therapy. here again, if we're dealing with this, a framework, if it's what's common in somebody at 42 years of age as a female in terms of cancer could see survival rates 80 to 90% at five years with this type of preventive chemotherapy. >> doctor, sticking with us. bring in meagan fitzgerald back into the conversation. meagan to you and likelihood we would hear from the palace especially on the princess of waems progress? oftentimes during cancer diagnosis much of what keeps the family going and many who care about the individual diagnosed is the progress along the way through these chemotherapy treatments. what is the likelihood we'll hear about the princess' progress? >> a big -- and balances, likely

not. calling for privacy, the reason, they put the video out, again, as a red line, but it's all simulation and conspiracy theories. this is the way letting the world know this is what the princess of wales is dealing with. it is serious. dealing with it as a family and asking for privacy. [ inaudible ] dealing it with the family. they do know it's possible that we may see her at some events. she is very near and dear and will do what she can. the main focus right now is on her family and trying to make a full recovery. >> tim, i want to talk about what this family is facing overall and what they have really dealt with over the last three or so years.

the diagnosis of the princess of wales. the diagnosis, cancer diagnosis of king charles. the death of queen elizabeth. and decades and decades of speculation and controversy when it came to princess diana, the separation of the prince as well along with his wife meghan markle who moved here to the united states. they have dealt with so much undue scrutiny and now they are facing this uphill battle for the princess of wales. >> absolutely. and this is why right at the beginning i used word "crisis." i mean, there's going to be tremendous sympathy for the royal family, obviously. it goes without saying, particularly for kate. a young mother. we don't know how serious her condition is, and so forth. but if you look at the bigger picture for the royal family, which is possibly inappropriate minutes after a young woman has received a cancer diagnosis, but

if you look at the big picture for the royal family, you know, it's a firm, it has a job to do and only has a certain number of representatives to do that job. and -- we've been down this road before. that number is diminishing. so the strain and the pressure that is going to be put on those members of the royal family who are still working and we don't know how long kate is going to be not able to carry out any official functions. we don't know that with the king. we've been told there's a possibility that he might go to australia later this year, but we just don't know. but in the short term, this is going back to why i used word "crisis" this is, puts incredible strain on that family, and enormous pressure on those of them who are still going to have to carry on doing

their jobs. charles' wife. queen camilla. she is 76 years old. this wasn't -- this wasn't expected, that the burden that she is now going to have to face going on, on her own. we know obviously that key members of the royal family are missing. prince harry is a very senior member of the royal family. he's not able to contribute at the moment at all. prince andrew, also in disgrace, out of the public eye. so it really is a very, very difficult time, but i think as far as the public is concerned, the most important thing, and as was said earlier on, the most important thing is that, you know, this is a young woman with three small children who's had a terrible diagnosis of cancer and people are going to be very shocked and very alarmed by that. >> so then as we think about

privacy, and how it is they can protect the princess of wales young children, who are going to school every day. how does the palace do that? when they are so much a part of the public eye there, beloved in their community and country as well. getting a statement from the mayor of london saying on behalf of londoners i wish the princess of wales a swift recovery. her bravery sharing her diagnosis will help raise awareness and encourage others to get checked. she is beloved by that country. how do they go about maintaining privacy, protecting those young children? >> well, seems to me there are two things here. one is, yes, of course, she's beloved by the country and we've heard she's one of the most popular of the royals, but i'm also struck by the fact that she disappeared from public life for

two moss, has disappeared, and the reaction has quite quickly turneds rather sour. this week i was asked to speak on a major news outlet about how the royals weren't visible in historic times participate and pointing to queen elizabeth, the queen mother during the blitz. i didn't speak about it, but a certain sense of wanting to immediately criticize when she was away from the public eye. and so it may be that she is beloved. she's had to make an unprecedented video address in order to calm the speculation at what's going on. so she has had to transgress her on privacy and make public as she has done. the time at which she had the diagnose and what she has been undergoing in order to try and hold people back. whilst restrictions on what can

be done over this sort of code of conduct around royal children, absolutely, you're right to point to the fact that these are young children. 10, 8 and 5, 5 years old. they've had to do an awful lot of work in the last month, to talk it through with them, answer their questions, to say, mummy is going to get better, and they've got to be able to hold that line and hope that they -- put that deep enough in those children's hearts, because when people start talking about it, which they will, their children will hear some other things. >> an incredibly difficult time for her, for her family for her children for her husband. seeing them at "people" versus as "the royal family" is incredibly important in this time as a woman, as man, as children, as wife, as a mother, as a father, as a husband. versus the prince and princess of wales. i want to bring in now chief foreign affairs correspondent andrew mitchell to talk more

about this. andrea mitchell. you have met the princess. met queen elizabeth as well and also understand what it is like to receive a cancer diagnosis. we've been talking a lot about how she is under a tremendous amount of public scrutiny. she has young children at home. and the difficult road she has ahead. >> i was so struck, yasmine, by the grace and poise that she brought to that announcement. the fact that they did an announcement on video, that she got to, important to do herself, and clearly all the controversy, rumor mongering, had to be painful. painful to william, also, given the way he mother died. paparazzi and all that. so that's the sub text. the background. here she is, his beloved wife going through a cancer diagnosis. she going through a cancer diagnosis as the mother of three small children initially thinking that she was in the

clear. and actually a very tough, after a very tough surgery. i know something about that kind of surgery and how difficult any abdominal surgery is having experienced it myself. a six to eight-week recovery generally and you can barely pick up a handbag, barely walk for several weeks. then to find out whatever the dna testing was shows there actually was cancer. you get that diagnosis. it is such a blow. in my case it was in the middle of a presidential campaign. first thing i thought of was my career. well, she's thinking about her children. i didn't have children, but thinking about her public role also and how do you go back, explain, oh, yes, it was cancer. and then deal with just the physical side of this. this is draining, emotionally draining. physically draining. she had major surgery. she needed to recover from that surgery before she could even begin the preventive chemo care.

let me say also there's a community of survivors of all types of cancer. dr. jill biden knows this so well. close friend of hers led her to lead breast cancer work for survivors when she was the vice president's wife and then, of course, beau's diagnosis. so she and joe biden from the days of their vice presidency, would be involved as cancer survivor and other colleagues whom i know and doctors whom i know from hih, in national cancer research going to the naval observatory for says and evolution. kaths cancer moon shop. this is so important as a national issue. for her to speak about the importance of chemo, the importance of's prevention, of healing, of time to deal with her children i think is so important to everyone in this larger community, and all of those women who have not gone for testing or treatment, or still embarrassed to.

it's a generational thing, but it was betty ford who opened the door on all of this when she actually invited the white house press corps at bethesda naval still in a robe in bed, post-operative talking about breast cancer. the word breast was never used on television or used in movies. here she is 1970 acknowledging as first lady with her husband leaning over kissing her sitting on the bedside. watch it on youtube. extraordinary. nancy reagan following suit. and president reagan under great scrutiny from all of us in the media covering him as the older, then, president, elected at 69 was diagnosed in cancer head of the national cancer institute dr. steve rosenberg at the time said "the president a has cancer." the first lady upset and called right away saying behind the scenes. he doesn't have cancer. ronny doesn't have cancer. they cut it out of him and was

very angry at that news conference. but, again. cancer was never spoken of publicly until recent decades and now she -- the royals who never go on camera and talk about their illnesses is on video? talking to what has been a ferocious media whirl of all kinds of rumors and saying publicly, thank you for your understanding. there's a lot of irony in that, but she did it sweetly. so i just think she deserves a tremendous amount of gratitude. >> absolutely. >> going forward as well. >> it's interesting as you're talking, andrea, i think a lot about the responsibility, the public responsibility that people in kate middleton's position are kind of plagued with. in that you must lead by example. right? when you have a cancer diagnosis, and you are in the throes of chemotherapy. we know what that does to one's

body. and you must sit on a bench as she is doing here. put your hair, you know, brush your hair. and speak publicly to the world about your illness, and knowing how much it must hurt her to do that. but also her responsibility as a princess and taking that into account as well. >> well, i think for all of those things she's thinking about her children first. not wanting this to be public. this is now on video, the way she presents herself and it's something they can all watch. at some point in the their lives. she knows how her husband suffered with his brother harry when their mother was undergoing that and so tragically died. to my eyes she looked, you know, obviously, she's been going through some chemo and she's recovering from surgery. so she wanted to put her best face forward at this moment and wait as long as she could, but there was quite a storm around

it, and i think that she really held up her end and did it with the grace and the strength, inner strength. what's so important to cancer survivors and patients going through this is to know that there's some light at the end of this tunnel. to see an example that preventive care helps, preventtive chemo, radiation, whatever they tell you you need. in my case i was able to dp go back to work and nbc welcomed me back, put me back on the beat. but i had to go through several years of, you know -- therapeutic medicines that have lots of side effects. and -- that's what you do, and you're attitude, your personal, your sense of self is so important. >> mm. >> and having something important for you to do. in my case, my work, my family and same for her. probably family first and then

her job. >> andrea mitchell as always thank you for sharing that with us. we really appreciate it. if you are just joining us, everybody, getting breaking news in. princess of wales kate middleton has been diagnosed with cancer. she released a statement just about 30 minutes or so ago. take a listen once again to that. >> i wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst i've been recovering from surgery. 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. in january i underwent major abdominal surgery in london and at the time it was thought ma thy condition was non-cancerous. the surgery was successful, however tests after the operation found cancer had been present. my medical team, therefore, advised i should undergo a

course of preventative chemotherapy and i'm now in the early stages of that treatment. this, of course, came as a huge shock, and 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, but most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to george, charlotte and louis in a way that's appropriate for them and to reassure them that i'm going to be okay. as i said to them, i am well. and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal, in my mind, body and spirits. having william by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, too. as is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. it means so much to us both. we hope that you'll understand

that as a family we now need some time, space and privacy while i complete my treatment. my work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and i look forward to being back when i'm able, but for now i must focus on making a full recovery. at this time i also think of all of those whose lives have been affected by cancer. for everyone facing this disease, in whatever for me, please, do not lose faith or hope. you are not alone. >> incredible moment for that family, for the palace as well and for her three young children. go now to the white house as we're getting reaction from there. mike memoli is standing by for us. the president, dr. jill biden as well know this horrible disease, mike, quite well. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, yasmin. my first thought learning about the princess' diagnosis think how young she was, then, of

course, how young beau biden, the presidential eldest son was when he first learned, the family learned of the diagnosis he had brain cancer. just 44 at the time. the princess is 42. i imagine as the president is reacting to this news that's likely the first place he went. thinking about what that diagnosis meant for the entire family, but especially beau's family and his young children as well. ultimately his death two years later was a significant moment for the family and formative setting the president on a path ultimately not to run in 2016 then be able to run in 2020. this news broke just as the white house briefing was scheduled to begin. it was delayed, as often is, just a bit past its scheduled time and we heard from the white house president secretary at beginning of her briefing offering the reaction of the administration. let's play how the news was played at the white house. >> we just heard obviously all of us just heard the terrible news. our thoughts are with the duchess of cambridge and her

family members and friends during this incredibly difficult time. and certainly we wish her a full recovery and i think it's important that we respect their privacies specially at this time. i'm not going to go further than that. i'll just, i will do one more thing before that, though. i know folks are going to ask if the president has spoken to her or the family. i can just say right now that we don't have anything to share at this time. obviously we wish the duchess of cambridge a full recovery and we are incredibly sad to hear of the news. >> reporter: obviously our colleague monica alba in the briefing room asked whether the white house had notification ahead of this public announcement. she indicated they did not. just over a month ago that the president was traveling when we all learned that the king, king charles, was diagnosed with a form of cancer.

the president at the time asked about it and did say he was concerned and hoped to speak with king charles iii. we will see president biden. scheduled to depart the white house to head to wilmington delaware for the weekend. in a little over an hour and a half. an opportunity for the president himself to offer his thoughts and i'm sure he's going to be thinking as i indicated earlier, of course, what the impact will be on the entire royal family but especially on the prince and princess of wales and their young children. >> mike memoli. thank you. appreciate you. i want to go back to tim ewert to talk more about what's happening when it comes to the princess and as we kind of talk about these potential progress reports and the privacy, the red line in the sand in which the princess has drawn in her statement. tim, do you expect as i asked our correspondent meagan fitzgerald the same question, any kind of progress reports from the palace? there will be a lot of intrigue. as there has been over the last

few months. that is, undisputable. so in order to avoid any kind of flurry over that potential intrigue, do you think the palace will rethink the way in which they are disseminating the information to the public? >> i think it's possible, but it's going to take a big shift in their mindset, because traditionally matters of health affecting the royal family have always been kept very, very private, indeed. i mean, thinking back to illnesses of the late duke of endingberg, prince philip, for example. few details. very little progress report. but as andrea pointed out, you know, we've had an unprecedented public statement from kate today. it really is -- quite extraordinary when it comes to matters of private health. so who knows? i mean, my instinct is that they will carry on as they always

have done, releasing this, as little information as possible, and it's worth making the point, i think, that when we talk about speculation, i think the mainstream media over here will be very respectful of kate's privacy, but you've heard the mainstream media is only really now just a small part of the overall picture, because there have already been millions, literally. i heard the figure 15 million the other day, people going on to the internet and speculating, putting out pictures that were doctored, questioning pictures that had been shown in the media. so the -- the palace can protect and can expect cooperation, i think. quite a lot of cooperation, from the mainstream media in this.

but that doesn't stop people on the internet continuing with what has been as we've already heard some pretty awful stuff. but who knows? i mean, today the picture you're looking at is unprecedented. who knows? maybe kate and william will say, right, it is time to be more open. let's keep people more informed as we go along. >> seems obvious at this point they're hand was forced to a certain extent because of so much speculation why it was that the princess of wales had not been more public about what was an ongoing obviously now situation. oftentimeses when there is this type of diagnosis in a family, i've experienced it in my own family. it brings people together, and it brings people back together. i wonder especially as we look ahead to public engagement in which, for instance, the princess of wales might not be able to partake in because his wife is undertaken treatment

that we could see prince harry and meghan markle come back into the palace-fold because of this diagnosis? >> i mean, the thought did cross my mind, because as tim has said so carefully earlier, we now just have a royal absence of personnel. the king is not available. princess catherine is not available and now prince william will probably be, you know, attending to the family and being there for her. that's three major members of the royal family who are not participating in public duties, and yet i can't see the way back. i can't see how after everything that has happened after the book, after the tv shows, after the things that have been revealed, the oprah interview, is there a way back? i think that they have burned all of their bridges, really. and -- the irony is here that we're in a situation where the

palace have put out the statement, which is being filmed, saying things, and timing of it, as you suggested, has probably been forced. probably also a sense of trying to delay it after the announcement of the king's diagnosis and also with entering the easter holiday. so those children are not going to be in a safe space at school anymore, but a lot of this is down to the fact that harry and meghan have set a tone of sharing. they have shared so many details of their lives, that actually the public is coming to expect that level of disclosure from the palace, which has never been their way. not the traditional way of approaching it. this is unprecedented and already we're asking, are we going to get anymore? and, you know, actually, it's

because of harry and meghan showing the way being quite so open we even started to ask these questions i think. in terms of your question, a way back? i can't see how it will be done. >> all stick with me. bringing in a global tech correspondent at axios and under prime minister tony blair. ryan, thank you for joining us. talk to me first about the difficulty in even choosing to share this message by the princess of wales? >> it works on several levels. it's been a journey. remember that queen elizabeth's father died of cancer, and that was never disclosed to the public at any point. so you have to think of the royal family in this really long historical context, and also what's not always evident to americans is how small the teams of professional staff are who work on these issues opinion so it's not like the white house where you have dozens of press aides. these are very small communications teams, and william and kate like to keep

family-first and be as private at possible. this is going to be a huge, ongoing challenge, and then we also need to remember that the royal family operates in a professional sense, and with a stiff upper lip. so the show does have to go on. and that includes really sad and difficult elements of professional planning. so when you've got senior members of the royal family with cancer diagnoses, however good the prospects may be that means things like funeral planning can appear as well. whole orders of magnitude of planning and activity going on behind the scenes now and relatively small numbers of people doing it. it is as previous guests have said an extremely difficult and challenging time. >> i also want to talk, ryan, quickly about the effect this has on the government as we've heard from the prime minister. the mayor of lornden. london. as well as the people of the uk.

as she is, as we talked about earlier, such a popular figure in that country, the princess of wales. >> well, this gets back to the level of trust in institutions and how leaders of those institutions manage and foster that trust. and so it is more difficult now. a much more fractured communications environment. so there is that demand for information. the first question almost all of us would have aside from how are the kid taking this news is what kip of cancer would it be? a very natural go ask, even if a very difficult thing for the family to have to deal with. and so you have this very complex interplay between all the different elements of government in the uk and the monarchy. involving the royal family. it's different to the u.s. so you will have people sticking together in the situation, and that's natural, but at the same time everyone will have to do their bit to communicate and uplift the public. that also includes the people

going through the hardest part of this which is kate and king charles. let's not forget, he's still dealing with his cancer treatmentryan appreciate it. a couple minutes left, guys. doctor, start with you. give me your final thoughts on this as we take in this late-breaking news that the princess of wales and this diagnosis of cancer? >> yes. yasmin, emphasize again there's so much we don't know and learn a lot i'm sure in the next week. stopping short of speculation here, what's encouraging, i would say the princess herself says she's feeling well. often what we think about when somebody is starting chemotherapy and performance status, saying can they withstand chemotherapy? it's grueling to go through that. the fact she's feeling well, healthy. her words. putting out a video.

it suggestser performance, team feels comfortable. again, it's early preventative chemo. the word they're using. those are words that should give us hope. how she appears, talking how she's feeling and the fact her performance status looks robust and that should all give us hope in a moment of uncertainty. those things should give us some shoppe. >> hope. >> what you're feeling now? >> encouraged by dr. gupta is saying and while it's true is a serious diagnosis every chance of recovery and survival. that's what we have to hope for at the moment. i think we just try and be kind now to her and in the treatment, she's asked to give her a moment of privacy with her family to recover. >> i thank everybody that joined me this last hour of breaking news. appreciate you all.

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good to be with you. i'm katy tur. major breaking news out of the uk. kate middleton has cancer. the princess of wales made the announcement herself in a video released by kensington palace in the last hour. >> i wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst i've been recovering from surgery. 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. in january i underwent major abdominal surgery in london and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. the surgery was successful. however, tests after the operation found cancer had been

present. my medical team, therefore, advised i should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and i'm now in the early stages of that treatment. this, of course, came as a huge shock, and 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, but most importantly it's taken time to share everything with george, charlotte and louis to reassure them that i'm going 0 be okay. i am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on things that will help me heal in mind, body and spirits. having william by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, too. as is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by