The news of Kate Middleton and King Charles’ surgeries came within an hour of one another (Picture: Getty/AFP)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have sent ‘get well’ messages to Kate Middleton and King Charles after both were hit with health concerns.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, is recovering in hospital following abdominal surgery in London last week.
Her father-in-law, Charles, will undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate in the coming days, according to Buckingham Palace.
In what a royal source described as an ‘olive branch’, Harry and Meghan have since passed on ‘their concerns and best wishes’ to the two senior royals.
‘The King and the Princess of Wales have received support from Prince Harry and Meghan regarding their health,’ the insider told The Mirror.
‘The Duke and Duchess contacted both parties in different ways to pass on their concern and best wishes.’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a source said, reached out to their family in different ways (Picture
Buckingham Palace is believed to have privately told the couple about Kate and Charles’ health issues before they were made public on Wednesday.
Kensington Palace said in a brief four-paragraph statement that Kate will be in hospital for up to two weeks.
The palace did not disclose the princess’ diagnosis or prognosis, though said the surgery had been planned for a condition that is ‘not cancerous’.
She went under the knife at The London Clinic, an elite private hospital in the well-heeled West End neighbourhood of Marylebone.
After being discharged, Kate will be moved to Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom house in Windsor.
‘She hopes the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private,’ the statement said.
Just an hour later, Buckingham Palace said Charles would undergo ‘corrective surgery’ at an unspecified hospital in London in the coming days.
His public engagements ‘will be postponed for a short period of recuperation,’ the statement from the palace said.
Palace officials said the king decided to make his condition public to encourage others to speak up.
Benign prostate enlargement is common in men over the age of 50. It can be found in around nine in 10 people aged 70 or above – Charles is 75.
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The king will go under the knife in the coming days.