The Princess of Wales’ decision to speak about her cancer treatment appears to have prompted a surge in visits to the websites of relevant charities and the NHS.
Kate revealed in a video message to the nation on Friday that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was receiving preventative chemotherapy.
The Macmillan Cancer Support charity has said online traffic to its information and support pages was the highest weekend figure since the first COVID-19 lockdown.
Gemma Peters, Macmillan’s chief executive, said: “In sharing her news, the Princess of Wales has raised awareness of these worries and will be helping to encourage others who have concerns, to visit their GP and seek support.
“Many will be relating to the Prince and Princess of Wales at this time.”
Between Friday evening – when Kate’s video message was released – and Sunday, there was close to 100,000 visits to information and support pages on the Macmillan site, 10% higher than this time last year.
The same pages were visited almost 50,000 times in a single day, Macmillan said.
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More than 1,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day, the equivalent to one person every 90 seconds, according to the charity.
The Macmillan figures come after Cancer Research UK spoke of a similar “uplift” in traffic for its website.
NHS England also reported a significant spike in visits to its cancer page online following the announcement.
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Kate’s voice broke with emotion at times during her video message which received a global outpouring of support, including from the King, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, political figures and members of the public.
Buckingham Palace announced in February that the King has been diagnosed with cancer after a “separate issue of concern was noted” during treatment for his benign prostate condition.
The palace’s statement sparked a surge in searches for NHS advice on cancer.
Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy, said: “We see significant increase in uplift in terms of the number of people that visit our website for health information after these types of announcements.”
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He added that “high-profile cancer cases” like those of the King and Kate “can act as a prompt to encourage people to find out more”.
“I think for anyone – being open and talking about cancer diagnosis can have a positive effect. It encourages people to find out more and to think about their own health.”
