Cancer community slams ‘appalling ignorance’ of people commenting on Catherine’s appearance

When Catherine, Princess of Wales, smiled at the crowds at Trooping the Colour last weekend, her first public appearance since December, the general reaction online could perhaps best be characterized with two statements:

No. 1: She looks great. No. 2: Why?

It had been nearly three months since Catherine revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for an undisclosed type of cancer discovered after an abdominal surgery in January. Since Christmas, the public hadn’t seen Catherine — other than two photos and one pre-recorded video released by Kensington Palace on social media.

One of those photos, released last Friday, was actually an announcement and health update confirming that Catherine, 42, would be attending King Charles’s official birthday celebration in London, also known as Trooping the Colour.

Then, on Saturday, Catherine appeared as promised, waving, smiling and described on both social media and traditional media as “radiant,” “gorgeous” and “elegant.” Her return to the public eye has been called triumphant, and “the dazzling cherry on the birthday cake.”

And yet, many others wondered if she shouldn’t look … worse. People questioned why the princess still had her hair, for instance. Others wondered if it was really her, after all, or saw the princess’s seemingly healthy appearance as “proof” for a range of rampant conspiracy theories.

These reactions, as well as a widely lambasted column in The Telegraph that praised Catherine for “channelling the gamine beauty of Audrey Hepburn” when “lesser mortals would have stayed at home” in their pyjamas, have been criticized by the cancer community as uneducated and harmful.

“Who in their right mind thought this comment was acceptable? To anyone living, navigating and struggling with the massive physical, mental and financial impact of a cancer diagnosis and treatment, you are not #LesserMortals and please never believe that you are!” Sophie Blake, a U.K. woman living with secondary breast cancer, wrote on X.

“There is no right or wrong way to navigate cancer. People do the best they can with what they have available, at the stage they’re at. There are no #lessermortals. We’re all just human beings, trying to stay alive! Such careless and offensive language shows appalling ignorance,” wrote X user Helen Aitken.

“Just because Catherine hasn’t lost her hair doesn’t mean to say she isn’t suffering from the other horrible side-effects from chemo. Also, not all chemo causes hair loss,” wrote a user named Rebecca on X.

WATCH | Catherine at Trooping the Colour: 

Princess Catherine joins other royals for military parade

Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the Trooping the Colour parade in London on Saturday, delighting members of the public who turned out for her first official appearance since her cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Other members of the Royal Family took part in the ceremony, including King Charles, who is also being treated for cancer.

Chemo affects people differently

It’s a myth that you have to look “sick” when you have cancer or are undergoing chemotherapy, Dr. Keith Stewart, the director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, told CBC News.

“Many people with cancer and on treatment are walking around leading pretty visibly normal and healthy lives.” 

There are many effective drugs that that don’t cause hair loss, nausea or vomiting, Stewart said. That said, there are still other “difficult” but less visible side-effects, like fatigue, neuropathy and changes in appetite, he added.

Statements claiming that Catherine perhaps doesn’t look sick enough, or conversely, comparisons of how good she looks compared to “lesser mortals,” are ultimately harmful and hurtful, Stewart said.

“Just because you don’t look terrible with your hair falling out in clumps doesn’t mean you’re not suffering, that you’re not experiencing the trauma and anxiety of developing a cancer at such a young age,” he said.

“It’s actually wrong to assume everybody is going to be like that.”

While hair loss is a common side-effect of chemotherapy, not all chemotherapy drugs cause it, the Canadian Cancer Society says on its website. Even then, hair loss can vary from person to person, the society adds.

How much hair a person may lose depends on the type, dose and combination of the drugs, how the drug is given and the length of treatment, the Canadian Cancer Society says.

People can also experience a range of other symptoms during cancer treatments, including fatigue, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, inflammation, vision changes, mouth sores and pain. Cancer itself is experienced differently depending on the type, severity and person, the Canadian Cancer Society notes.

That said, some people do experience severe symptoms and side-effects. And on social media, some took offence to the “lesser mortals” statement, which quickly became a hashtag.

“As one of the #LesserMortals who stayed at home while having chemo for breast cancer at the age of 40, I find this unbelievably offensive,” wrote Ellie McElwee on X.

[At] one point I was crawling on the floor with pain, my tongue didn’t fit in my mouth because everything was swollen and every membrane was sour and open,” wrote user YvonneH. “Kate is a superhero. The press stinks.”

WATCH | Catherine’s health update: 

Royal watcher Ellie Hall speaks with CBC’s Jacqueline Hansen on Princess Catherine’s health update

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