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.



2 Elephants Die in Flash Flooding in Northern Thailand

This handout photo taken and released on October 3, 2024 by the Elephant Nature Park shows elephants standing in flood waters at the sanctuary in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province. (Photo by Handout / ELEPHANT NATURE PARK / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released on October 3, 2024 by the Elephant Nature Park shows elephants standing in flood waters at the sanctuary in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province. (Photo by Handout / ELEPHANT NATURE PARK / AFP)
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2 Elephants Die in Flash Flooding in Northern Thailand

This handout photo taken and released on October 3, 2024 by the Elephant Nature Park shows elephants standing in flood waters at the sanctuary in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province. (Photo by Handout / ELEPHANT NATURE PARK / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released on October 3, 2024 by the Elephant Nature Park shows elephants standing in flood waters at the sanctuary in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province. (Photo by Handout / ELEPHANT NATURE PARK / AFP)

Two elephants drowned during flash flooding in popular Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai, their sanctuary said Sunday, as local authorities evacuated visitors from their hotels and shops closed in the city center.

More than 100 elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai province were moved to higher ground to escape rapidly rising flood waters, an employee who gave her name as Dada, told AFP.

But two elephants -- named in local media as 16-year-old Fahsai and 40-year-old Ploython, who was blind -- were found dead on Saturday.

"My worst nightmare came true when I saw my elephants floating in the water," Saengduean Chailert, the director of the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand, told local media.

"I will not let this happen again, I will not make them run from such a flood again," she said, vowing to move them to higher ground ahead of next year's monsoon.

In Chiang Mai city center, people waded through muddy water close to knee height in the night bazaar, and water flowed into the central train station, which has now been closed.

Tourists were forced to evacuate hotels and a local TV station showed a monk carrying a coffin through floodwaters to a cremation site.

Major inundations have struck parts of northern Thailand as recent heavy downpours caused the Ping River to reach "critical" levels, according to the district office. The water level peaked on Saturday but had receded slightly by Sunday.

Thailand's northern provinces have been hit by large floods since Typhoon Yagi struck the region in early September, with one district reporting its worst inundations in 80 years.

Twenty provinces are currently flooded, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said Sunday.