Prince Harry's 'Painful Place': Duke's Past Criticism of Seriously Ill Princess Kate Is Coming Back to Haunt Him

In his January 2023 memoir, Spare, Prince Harry was "heavily critical" of his sister-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

"When you do discover that your sister-in-law has cancer, and you’ve written stuff that can’t be retracted, that’s quite a painful place to be in," royal author Tessa Dunlop told an outlet.

"They [Harry and Meghan Markle] deliberately criticize the monarchy [and then offer] themselves as an alternative to monarchy," she added. "So then, when the monarchy is in trouble, we do kind of make a comparison. Can Harry and Meghan really hold themselves off as the caring example now?" Dunlop pondered. "They’re certainly going to have to be careful of their timing with any releases so that it doesn’t look opportunistic."

The royal expert offered this assessment amid the future queen's battle with a potentially terminal illness and the Duchess of Sussex's simultaneous launch of her new brand.

"The big C — it’s kind of untouchable," the scribe observed. "When that comes creeping in the door, that just reframes everything."

The Princess of Wales revealed her new battle to the world in an "emotional" video uploaded to her and Prince William's social media accounts on March 22. It is believed HRH received the diagnosis in February, weeks after her abdominal surgery on January 16.

Princess Kate's treatments are said to be "preventative chemotherapy," which is used as a precaution to ensure malignant cells are destroyed. A source close to the Wales household shared that the type of cancer, just like with King Charles III, will not be shared with the public, although online forum gossip is speculating the queen-in-waiting is treating "lower abdominal cancer cells."

"[They] wanted to wait to tell the world the news until their children were off school for the Easter break so they could have time to process the news before the whole world was talking about [it]," the insider revealed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a joint statement shortly after the future queen's video dropped.

"We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace," the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared to media outlets through their representative.

The royal rebels did not release any further information on the princess' condition, or if they planned to visit with her like Harry did when King Charles announced his battle with cancer.

Some reports suggested that Harry and Meghan personally and individually "reached out" to their sister-in-law. The Duke of Sussex is set to visit Britain in May for the 10th-anniversary celebration of his popular Invictus Games. One Kensington Palace source shared that "Her Royal Highness has no intention of meeting with him."

Us Weekly reported on the insider revelations.