so am I "lesser" by default, or "greater" cos I've done more than peer out of a window?

[Maybethisyearornext]

'When lesser mortals would have stayed at home, Catherine proved that the show goes on' | Writes @AllisonPearson in the telegraph

I find this indescribably offensive

I am a "lesser" cancer patient because I didn't attend the trooping of the colour? Ok, but I attended as many days of work as I could, and as many hospital appointments as was required, and that mean a mile walk to the station each time. And in the months I could not return to school premises I undertook small amounts of voluntary work in order to keep in touch with the world and work on my stamina

And I coped without any income at all in the 5 months it took the DWP to process my ESA claim - did this "greater" cancer patient do this?

I don't blame Princess Catherine. She is just muddling through the best she can like all of us, trying to cope with treatment, keep up her spirits, provide happy times for her family, be a useful citizen, and hope for the future

But how ignorant do you have to be to write that other cancer patients are "lesser mortals" - and how could an editor let that pass? Were they asleep at their desk?

Please complain or suggest any other way you can to react to this, and get it taken down, and get an apology - this has caused distress among many families this morning. I am not on twitter myself, can people who are on twitter say something please?

https://x.com/Telegraph/status/1802114337319932072

Well yes, but the other difference of course is that she knows she will have access to the best treatment money can buy and that she didn't have to go on a waiting list. So they were two worries she didn't have.

OP I agree with you 💐

Horrific thing to write.

horrific especially as it’s directed to those with cancer, and generally horrible because none of us are lesser just because we are not royalty.

I've just looked that up, that sounds unbearably tough to cope with for you and your son and I am so sorry you have had stupid comments like that. I hope you are finding places and people that understand and offer support xx

Totally agree. Complete overreaction. Move on and get on with your day. Nobody thinks you, or indeed any of us who’ve gone through cancer, is less than Catherine.

Oof, it's a real kicker of an article. So insidious.

On the one hand, she is praising Catherine for not being at home tucked up in her 'jim jams' (like all you 'lesser mortals').

Then in the next paragraph she is sticking the boot in - saying the illness has 'definitely taken its toll' , the POW is 'more slender' (eg very thin) with 'heavier make-up than usual'. Meow.

And then, most hilariously, making the whole spectacle somehow Meghan's fault "Particular spite has come from the Sussex camp"

The only spiteful one here sounds like Pearson herself. What a sneery and unpleasant article.

@Wimbledonmum1985 except for the writer of course.

I literally just got a notification that Narinder Kaur has posted this on Twitter describing it s a disgusting thing to say. She has over 24000 followers 😉

I am sorry for what you're going through. I have had the same cancer twice in 12 years and I am currently in recovery from a bone marrow transplant to hopefully prevent it from reoccurring again. I'm not offended by this journalist. It's just journo speak and because Catherine is in the public eye. He and the rest of society certainly aren't calling us lesser mortals. It's thoughtless but try not to let it affect you. I think of myself, you and other cancer survivors as very strong.

It’s crappy journo speak with a side of royal bum licking.

Same difference at this point quite honestly - it’s gone downhill massively in the last 10-15 years.

I don't have cancer and I don't think it's an overreaction. I think it would be totally understandable to be rattled by that kind of comment.

I have had cancer and think it a total overreaction. I don’t think it is understandable to be rattled by it.

I had cancer and I’m not offended by that. I continued to work throughout my 6 months of chemo but I’m glad I could do that in the privacy of my own home. If I felt crap I could stay in my pjs. But Cathrine has the eyes of the world on her, having cancer is hard enough without everyone making comments about how she looks etc.

And she was having a dig at us, she literally called us "lesser mortals

I spend my days treating "lesser mortals" like you and have seen first hand the effects of chemo, radiotherapy, hair loss, loss of identity and the millions of other things you are going through every day for the last 20-odd years.
You are not lesser than someone who leads a pampered life and is not ever going to be confronted by the reality of having to build back a life, work, deal with family without a bunch of sycophants around them. As an oncologist and as someone who had cancer, you are not the lesser mortals. The lesser mortal is the one who realised the self indulgent twaddle Friday just in time to be headline news at 6pm.

Just keep plodding on and know that you are a bloody hero to people like me.

PS royals don't work. Getting dressed up, often in uniforms covered in medals they have not earned, smiling and waving is not work.

Sorry, YABU, although I understand you must be going through a lot.
The 'lesser mortals' are hypothetical other Princesses, not other cancer patients. It's a common literary device.
You're taking this personally, but you need to realise the article is about Princess Catherine not about you or anyone else.
Also, even if I'm wrong and you're right about the article, people constantly trying to censor anything that mildly upsets them and get people fired for expressing an opinion are really getting tiresome.
Hope you make a swift and full recovery 💐

The article literally says "lesser mortals with the same illness".

Not princesses. Not queens. Not little blue aliens from Mars.

I actually feel for Catherine. I choose what I want to do depending on how well i feel each day. Catherine might have felt rubbish yesterday but had to appear because they had said she would. True, waving isn't work but that is not her fault. Also, how horrible to be undergoing treatment and have people just pick you apart after one appearance. Yes, she doesn't have to worry about money etc but she still has cancer.
The journalist i wouldn't give another thought to.

As we have no idea what type of cancer either Charles or Catherine have you can't even compare them let alone bring anyone else in the equation. Cancer is shit but it's likely to be more shit for people having to wait for diagnosis then treatment.

As we've only seen the PoW once, yesterday, since her announcement I would imagine that she too had spent a lot of time under the duvet, but if you want to take it personally, crack on.

If anyone's a lesser mortal it's Pearson, she's a horror of a human.

TBH as a fellow Cancer sufferer I have gone above and beyond being "offended" by anything the National Press have to say! Examples : In the last few months My friend has been surprised I cant walk far! Another told me "No worries" Their NDN has Cancer and its nothing at all!Hmm... And on here a few days ago A Lady with Ovarian Cancer (same as mine) was told she was "no longer a woman, as she had no ovaries and a breast op ! So forgive me for not letting some lazy reporting get to me! AP and the Telegraph are right wing and show great reverence to the "Royals" Lots of ladies like me and OP have to battle on regardless! I feel for Kate as she is far younger than me ,However if you are dog tired /in pain /knackered from Chemo bloody lie down and have a well earned rest!

Thats what I do ! And am doing in a mo TBH! I am semi retired now luckily.

That article is teeth-squeakingly obsequious. 😬(Annoyingly, years ago I bought and loved several of AP's books but these days I wish I hadn't, after some of the sentiments she's spouted!)

OP I get what you're saying. Although Allison didn't use the words 'cancer warrior' there was definitely a whiff of that sentiment, which imo is othering to those whose treatment, coupled with the disease itself, is whipping their behind too much for them to feel very warrior-like.

As someone with 2 cancers and really struggling at the moment with the side effects of past treatments . Non hodgkins lymphoma and breast cancer, your post just made me cry.
You are a hero to people like me