The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reached out to Catherine, Princess of Wales after her cancer diagnosis.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan – who stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and are not in regular contact with the royal family – are understood to have only heard about Catherine’s health issues when she made a video statement to the world.
The couple reached out “privately” to Duchess Catherine and her husband, Harry’s brother Prince William, according to ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship.
Chris wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Prince Harry has reached out to his brother, Prince William after learning of Kate’s cancer.
“Harry and Meghan have both been in touch with their brother/sister-in-law but did so privately. It not clear if that was a phone/video call or some messages of support.”
Harry and Meghan also publicly wished Catherine “health and healing” following the disclosure of her illness.
In a statement, they said: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”
Catherine announced her diagnosis during a televised address, where she said: “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’ve 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 on cancer had been present.
“This of course, came as a huge shock. And Wiliam 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 for major surgery in order to start my treatment.”