The difference between cancer life as a royal and as a "lesser mortal"

[sixtyandsomething]

not to derail other threads..

I have nothing against the Princess of Wales, I am sure she is a lovely person and I wish her well. however, let's not pretend she is facing the same struggles as the rest of us.

I bet you £10 she hasn't had to deal with any of these! (feel free to add your own)

-40+ calls to DWP, often being left on hold for 2 hours or more
-many months delay in benefits being processed, leaving you without any income at all
-DWP advising you to "find a food bank"
-struggle up the hill on crutches to get a bus to chemo
-appointments delayed and cancelled, blood tests lost and repeated, regular system "crashes" leaving medical staff with no access to your notes.
-never seeing the same medical professionals twice.
-consultant appointments cancelled when you have already travelled several hours to the hospital
-telephone appointments you have to sit and wait by the phone for, for the whole day
-worry on crammed full bus when you are CEV
-getting off bus because it is too full
-getting of bus because you are vomiting
-sitting on the pavement for 3-4 hours after chemo in the dark and rain, because you are CEV and don't want to get back on a crammed bus in the rush hour
-commuters swearing at you because you move too slowly
-commuter kicking you out of the way because you move to slowly, and doing it with an air of indignation, like they feel seriously injured by having to touch something so disgusting with their foot
-minimum 18 hour wait in A and E before being admitted with infection - once it was 28 hours
-further many hour wait in ER before being admitted to wards.
-spending night on chair in corridor, after being admitted to a ward
-being asked to vacate chair in corridor so doctor can perform ECG on patient who is currently standing up with nowhere to sit
-being warned by hospital staff to sleep in your glasses so they are not stolen
-having to buy a constant stream of new clothes, and having to go to charity shops - on steroids? go up two sizes, no chemo? go down 3- surgery? get front opening everything, in a range of sizes.
-not being able have a clean the house, wash up, open the window even, without calling a friend to come and help.
-council refusing to empty your bins because you are not capable of moving them to the right place at the right time
-giving away your pets because you can't take care of them, or afford them
-being told the waiting list to see a physiotherapist is around a year

I could go on

I am so grateful for the treatment I have had, and I hope the Princess of Wales does well and recovers, but the two situations are not the same, even slightly, even if the disease is.

FFS the people on here are thick
OF COURSE rich people have it easier. They can afford a taxi home instead of waiting for the bus home from chemo at the very fucking least.

Hmm but there are other non royal people wirh cancer who won't go through what you have as well. Because
A) they are not eligible for benefits
B) they have family support
C) they may live in an area where access to NHS treatment is better
D) they either earn enough to pay for private care or make that a priority........

So don't underestand why you have "picked" on Kate.

However, at the end of the day, like a pp suggested, she is a mum to three kids and will have similar fears irrespective of her privilege.

She likely doesn't have these struggles no but there are unique but just as real struggles which she does have (which should be obvious)

-She can do nothing without being publically scrutinised and criticised. There were some really vile things being said about her before the truth came out.
-Now that the truth is out she is now the poster child for the inequality of the country even though she and the rest of the RF don't really hold any responsibility for this inequality. We are a democracy, have been for centuries, and yet we show our disgust with the current state of the country by slating a seriously sick, apolitical young woman rather than speaking out against the government or even just using our vote for change. Please don't anyone even try and claim that they wouldn't accept the treatment she's receiving if given half a chance. There's really very little control she has over the situation
-She and her family are facing the very real prospect of Prince William becoming king before he's even reached middle age as a single dad of 3 young children, one of which also needs to be trained to be the future king, 2 of who need to be nurtured so that they don't go off the rails like so many other 'spares'

Their pressures are not something that we can really comprehend but surely anyone can see that their pressures are very real and very immense. I'm sorry OP for the experiences you're going through but I think it's in really poor taste to criticise one person whoever she is whilst she's seriously ill for something that she ultimately has very little control over

Exactly. The playing field isn't even in the same league.

I'm sorry, OP. We're waiting for scans. It's outrageous how long it takes.

you are speculating. And maybe she is. No one has said that she’s having an easy time of it.

Everyone is speculating because no one here knows anything about Kate’s condition or what she has had to do or not had to do.

but it’s a hell of a fucking lot different being taken home in a private air conditioned chauffeured car than it is sitting at a bus stop in the pissing rain after chemo, isn’t it?

It depends. Personally, I’d much rather sit at the bus stop in the pissing rain after chemo knowing that my cancer was treatable, than being taken home in a private air conditioned chauffeured car after chemo knowing that my condition was terminal.

This is such an inappropriate discussion, honestly.

One thing Kate has had to endure though, is people having conversations like this about her online. It’s terrible.

It's actually insulting.

How has she had to endure this? Is she on Mumsnet?

Why not use the example of wealthy people?! Why target one person, when the fact is, there are many privileged people getting better treatment rather then target that poor woman.

Its not just wealth though, a very small % fall into the bracket of Royal family level wealth & the fact they are Royals adds another layer.

I don't think Kate is desperately ill like that.

The royals are living in a time where they can't rely on the Devine right of kings and have to be relatable to those who pay taxes to allow them to continue to occupy those roles. Increased access to details of their lives is part of it. But you can't have it one way.

The orchestrated 'we are just normal' instagrammed lives whilst retaining privacy and privilege breaks the rules.

Obviously the rich and privileged experience cancer different from the rest of us.

Obviously cancer affects us all emotionally as human beings.

But maybe pre-cancer as opposed to active cancer is the greater divide and why the royal family is retreating into privacy.

Maybe they are receiving precancerous treatment not available to the rest of us but want to be treated as full cancer patients who are doing cancer well.

I can't imagine the deficit of revealing your accurate cancer diagnosis if you were past the precancerous stage for the royals. As per 'real' you would be extra identifiable. The press would lap it up. The royalists would be out in force.

But I can imagine the benefit of allowing the press to imagine you are dying when precancerous cells are found. The press still lap it up and the royalists are out in force.

Of course she has it fucking easier!!!!!!

You are right @sixtyandsomethingand I'm really sorry that you have had to suffer repeatedly.
Cancer is a frightening illness to have diagnosed for sure but there are many different types and stages, which have variable prognoses and treatments. People's experience will therefore be different. I'm sure PW is having a very difficult time at present and I sympathise but being incredibly wealthy and supported by hundreds of staff will obviously make life much easier in general, whether you are in perfect health or unwell.

I also pretty sick of all the sycophantic coverage about the PW's bravery in fighting cancer, etc, etc. I hate this language in general because if implies that those who can't leave their bed because they are totally floored by chemo' or are dying of cancer are simply not brave enough or not fighting hard enough.

Did the Alison Pearson article reduce you to tears?

Dignity costs money these days. Awful, but true.

I also pretty sick of all the sycophantic coverage about the PW's bravery in fighting cancer, etc, etc. I hate this language in general because if implies that those who can't leave their bed because they are totally floored by chemo' or are dying of cancer are simply not brave enough or not fighting hard enough.

It also puts immense pressure on her, she’s not even allowed to “put a foot wrong” during cancer treatment.

Why not? Maybe she is on Mumsnet.

But she has already had to come out with a public statement about her health condition because of this kind of thing on here and other platforms.

It’s not okay to be speaking about a mother of three young children who has cancer like this.

Like what?

I also pretty sick of all the sycophantic coverage about the PW's bravery in fighting cancer, etc, etc. I hate this language in general because if implies that those who can't leave their bed because they are totally floored by chemo' or are dying of cancer are simply not brave enough or not fighting hard enough.

Absolutely this. It's intensely annoying.

I understand OP. The King has the same type of cancer my dad has and it annoys me that he probably gets better treatment than my dad. Not having to worry about traffic or if there will be good enough parking. Now he is having to pay for a taxi or make sure there's a taxi available so he gets to hospital on time. I hope you get better.

But she has already had to come out with a public statement about her health condition because of this kind of thing on here and other platforms.

Dont leave out the long absence, banned car photo, editing family picture. The whole thing was mismanaged PR wise.

I don’t see what any of what you describe has to do with royalty. An awful lot of “ordinary people” don’t experience that either.
Lots of very ordinary people have private health cover through work (DH included) and some people in the NHS system actually have a good experience (some of my other family included).

I’m sorry you are experiencing such difficulties but that has everything to do with being very low income and nothing to do with royalty.

Your response has nothing to do with what I said.

People are always very surprised to hear that I rarely have hospital appointments and I don’t have any particular person to contact. They assume that the medical system would be all over someone with advanced cancer.

I absolutely don’t begrudge anyone the excellent care that we all deserve. But when a nurse laughed at me down the phone I couldn’t help thinking, would you speak to the King like that?

It’s not okay to be speaking about a mother of three young children who has cancer like this.

Why is it not ok to acknowledge her status & wealth?

Of course she's having it easier.

Not to say she isn't going through a horrible experience, but she's definitely having it easier than what OP described.