Two of the most senior members of Britain’s royal family have been hit by health concerns, with Catherine, the Princess of Wales and the wife of Prince William, undergoing abdominal surgery in London on Tuesday, while King Charles III will receive treatment for an enlarged prostate next week.
Catherine will be hospitalized for 10 to 14 days, according to the couple’s office in Kensington Palace, and will convalesce for two to three months after that. The king’s recovery is expected to be swifter, according to Buckingham Palace, which described his treatment as a “corrective procedure” for a common, benign condition.
Kensington Palace did not offer details on Catherine’s diagnosis or prognosis, other than to say that the surgery had been planned and was successful, and that her condition was “not cancerous.” It said the princess, who is 42, would recuperate at home after she left the hospital and would not return to public duties until after Easter.
“Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was admitted to the London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery,” Kensington Palace said in a four-paragraph news release. It added: “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 news of King Charles’s medical procedure came about an hour later. Buckingham Palace announced he would postpone his engagements for a “short period of recuperation.” It did not say at which hospital Charles, 75, would be treated. A palace official said the king had decided to disclose his treatment because he hoped it would encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms similar to his to get checked.
Benign prostate enlargement is common in men over age 50, according to Britain’s National Health Service. In those over 70, it can be found in up to 90 percent of men. It is not cancerous and it does not usually pose a serious health threat. Treatment includes medication and changes to diet and lifestyle, as well as surgical procedures in some more severe cases to cut excess tissue from the prostate gland.