Catherine, Princess of Wales, has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun chemotherapy, she announced Friday (Saturday AEDT), putting a grim coda on months of rumours about her condition and plunging Britain’s royal family into deep uncertainty as two of its most senior figures grapple with grave health concerns.

Her diagnosis follows that of King Charles III, who announced his own cancer diagnosis and treatment in early February. Like the king, Catherine, also known as Kate, did not specify what type of cancer she had nor what her prognosis was.