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British Princess Kate’s Shock Cancer Diagnosis Dominates Front Pages

Horse Racing - Royal Ascot - Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain - June 23, 2023 Catherine, Princess of Wales is pictured at the racecourse. (Reuters)
Horse Racing - Royal Ascot - Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain - June 23, 2023 Catherine, Princess of Wales is pictured at the racecourse. (Reuters)
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British Princess Kate’s Shock Cancer Diagnosis Dominates Front Pages

Horse Racing - Royal Ascot - Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain - June 23, 2023 Catherine, Princess of Wales is pictured at the racecourse. (Reuters)
Horse Racing - Royal Ascot - Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain - June 23, 2023 Catherine, Princess of Wales is pictured at the racecourse. (Reuters)

Friday's shock announcement from Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, of her cancer diagnosis dominated the nation's newspaper front pages on Saturday, with messages of support combined with criticism of those who had speculated about her health.

Kate said on Friday she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy after tests taken after she had major abdominal surgery in January revealed that cancer had been present.

Kate, the 42-year-old wife of heir to the throne Prince William, called the cancer discovery a "huge shock". The news comes as a fresh health blow to the British royal family: King Charles is also undergoing treatment for cancer.

All of Saturday's newspapers featured Kate's news, accompanied by a photograph of the princess delivering her video message, which was filmed at Windsor on Wednesday.

"KATE, YOU ARE NOT ALONE," splashed The Sun tabloid, saying she received a "huge outpouring of love and support", while rival the Daily Mirror went with "KATE REVEALS CANCER SHOCK" and shared her remarks about how she had to explain the news to her children George, Charlotte and Louis.

The Daily Telegraph quoted the princess, who is still popularly known by her maiden name Kate Middleton, as saying: "Cancer came as huge shock", but noted she said she is "going to be OK".

The Daily Mail rounded on those who have speculated in recent weeks on her health, saying: "How do all those vile online trolls feel now?"

On Friday, messages of support poured in for Kate, including from King Charles, Prince Harry, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and US President Joe Biden.

Sunak said Kate had "shown tremendous bravery" with her statement, adding she "has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media."

Kate's diagnosis was also big news internationally.

"Catherine's Cancer Diagnosis Puts UK Royals on Even More Uncertain Terrain," said the New York Times, noting that the grave health concerns of both the king and Kate are stretching an already slimmed down monarchy.

Charles, who took the throne in September 2022 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth, underwent a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate at the same hospital as Kate in January.

Buckingham Palace then revealed in February that the 75-year-old king was to have treatment for cancer, meaning he has had to postpone his public royal duties.

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Varieties

Study Documents Extinction of 610 Bird Species, Ecological Impacts

A flock of Common Teal fly across a wetland on a winter day on the outskirts of Srinagar January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo
A flock of Common Teal fly across a wetland on a winter day on the outskirts of Srinagar January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo
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Study Documents Extinction of 610 Bird Species, Ecological Impacts

A flock of Common Teal fly across a wetland on a winter day on the outskirts of Srinagar January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo
A flock of Common Teal fly across a wetland on a winter day on the outskirts of Srinagar January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo

The Dodo, the famous flightless bird that inhabited the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, is a case study in extinction caused by humans. The Dodo, finely adapted to its isolated ecosystem but unprepared for the arrival of people, was first encountered by Dutch sailors in 1598. Hunting, habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species doomed it in under 80 years.

It is hardly alone. New research has documented the extinction of 610 bird species over the past 130,000 years, coinciding with the global spread of our species Homo sapiens, an avian crisis that has only accelerated in recent years and decades. For instance, the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, a Hawaiian songbird, was declared extinct just last year.

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The researchers also revealed the ecological consequences, as the disappearance of avian species erases functions they serve in innumerable ecosystems, Reuters reported.

"Birds undertake a number of really important ecosystem functions, many of which we depend on, such as the dispersal of seeds, the consumption of insects, the recycling of dead material - for example, vultures - and pollination. If we lose species, then we lose these functions," said ecologist Tom Matthews of the University of Birmingham in England, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Science, opens new tab.

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"A good example of this is on the islands of Mauritius and Hawaii, where all or almost all the native frugivores - birds that eat fruit - have gone extinct," Matthews said.

The Dodo and Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, believed to have had fruit as part of their diets, were among those.

"Frugivory is an important function, as in eating the fruits and then moving around, birds will disperse the seeds of the plants the fruits belong to," Matthews said.

This can precipitate "secondary knock-on extinctions," Matthews said, with Mauritius now having many threatened tree species.

Most of the documented extinctions occurred on islands. Habitat loss can have huge effects given the isolation and reduced area involved, while the introduction of animals such as rats, cats and mice can have substantial impacts given the evolution of flightlessness among many island-endemic birds that left them unable to escape new predators, Matthews said.

Human hunting was a big extinction driver in the past and remains problematic in certain regions. Capturing birds for the songbird trade is a big issue, particularly in Southeast Asia, Matthews said.

Certain regions and species had more specific factors involved. For example, avian malaria, introduced by people, has triggered large numbers of extinctions in Hawaii - particularly among the endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers - where the birds possessed no natural immunity.

"The big unknown going forward is the role of anthropogenic climate change as a driver," Matthews said.

Some wondrous birds have been lost.

The large flightless elephant birds endemic to Madagascar vanished after people arrived, including Aepyornis maximus, possibly the largest bird that ever existed, about 10 feet (3 meters) tall. The flightless moa birds endemic to New Zealand, including the South Island giant moa that rivaled the elephant birds in size, similarly disappeared after humans colonized the islands.

North America's migratory passenger pigeon numbered in the billions, but was hunted into oblivion.

The 610 species combined represented 3 billion years of unique evolutionary history, the researchers said, with each lost species like chopping off a branch from the tree of life.

The number 610 is "likely a large underestimate" of avian extinctions, Matthews said, because of a paucity of data from some locales and the fact some lost species may not have left behind skeletal remains to be found. Regardless of the true number, Matthews said, "the vast majority of extinctions over the last 50,000 years are attributable to human actions."

About 11,000 bird species now exist, occupying a dizzying array of ecological niches. The researchers projected future extinctions of more than 1,000 species over the next two centuries.

"So even if you don't care about the moral and ethical concerns regarding the loss of species, these extinctions are important for other reasons, such as the loss of species that helped the environment to function effectively," Matthews added.

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