Catherine, Britain's Princess of Wales, said on Friday she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after medical tests revealed the presence of cancer.
The video announcement comes after she was hospitalized in January for abdominal surgery. Kensington Palace at the time said that Catherine's condition was not cancer-related.
The princess had not been seen publicly since Christmas until a video surfaced of her with her husband, Prince William, walking to a shop near their home in Windsor.
Her absence from public view sparked weeks of speculation about her condition. A photo released by Kensington Palace after her hospitalization was retracted by news organizations after they found it had been altered.
In her Friday video announcement, Catherine said that while her medical team initially thought that her condition was non-cancerous, tests taken after her surgery revealed the presence of cancer.
She said the discovery was "a huge shock," but she was "well and getting stronger every day."
"William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family," she said.
She said that her family needed to be given "time, space and privacy" as she completes her treatment.
Last month, Britain's royal family announced that King Charles III was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer.
Buckingham Palace said King Charles III was proud of Princess Catherine for her courage in making her announcement.
It said Charles has remained in close contact with his daughter-in-law over the last few weeks.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle responded to Catherine’s video in a statement that was published several hours after the Princess of Wales opened up about her cancer diagnosis.
“We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace,” the statement of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex read.
Harry and Meghan are no longer working royals and moved to California in 2020. According to royal experts, Harry and his brother William, Prince of Wales and Catherine’s husband, have not spoken to each other in months.
The Duke of Sussex visited his father, King Charles III, in London last month, after the 75-year-old also made his cancer diagnosis public.
