The Princess of Wales has revealed she leaned on an ancient holistic method to help recover from cancer.
Kate, 43, who is continuing a slow and measured return to public life while in remission from cancer, told patients at a cancer wellbeing centre at Colchester Hospital that she had tried acupuncture – a traditional Chinese medicine in which practitioners insert thin needles into specific parts of the body to promote healing and relieve pain.
The mother-of-three is believed to have also used the method to help cope with hersevere morning sickness in 2012, while she was pregnant with Prince George.
Kate went on to suffer again from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) while pregnant with Princess Charlotte in 2014 and Prince Louis in 2018.
The condition saw the Princess announce her later two pregnancies early, before reaching the crucial 12-week stage.
HG can lead to severe dehydration and puts both mother and baby at risk of being deprived of essential nutrients, as they are unable to keep food and drink down.
Sufferers can be left vomiting up to 30 times a day, with exhausting and hazardous consequences.
Studies have shown acupuncture can help with sickness and significantly relieve lower back or pelvic pain experienced by 90 per cent of women during pregnancy.
Kate said that such a journey would be ‘life-changing for anyone’
The Princess of Wales during a visit to the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital
Researchers consider it a safe treatment because it doesn’t involve the need for drugs.
It is unclear exactly how it might ease pain but is thought to involve the release of the body’s innate ‘happy’ chemicals, endorphins.
Acupuncture is also thought to increase blood flow to skin and muscle.
Speaking yesterday, Kate spoke of the ‘very scary, very daunting experience’ of cancer did not end with the conclusion of treatment, with patients needing to take time to find their ‘new normal’.
She also revealed that she had tried acupuncture – a traditional Chinese medicine in which practitioners insert thin needles into specific parts of the body to promote healing and relieve pain – as part of her own recovery process.
The princess, speaking to therapist Amanda Green during a walkabout in heavy rain afterwards, disclosed that she had not yet tried reflexology but had undergone acupuncture as part of her own health journey.
The visit offered the princess’s most personal and extensive insight into her own experience to date, seeing her reference her own ill health several times while offering empathy to other patients and families.
‘It’s life-changing for anyone,’ she said. ‘Through first diagnosis or post treatment and things like that, it is a life-changing experience both for the patient but also for the families as well.
Kate today opened up about her cancer recovery journey as she spoke with patients in the hospital’s wellbeing centre
The princess also did a walkabout and met staff and volunteers
‘And actually it sometimes goes unrecognised, you don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time [of diagnosis], appreciate how much impact it is going to have.
‘You have to find your new normal and that takes time… and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not one smooth plane, which you expect it to be. But the reality is it’s not, you go through hard times.
‘And to have a place like this to have the support network, through creativity and singing or gardening whatever it might be is so valuable and it’s great this community has it.
‘It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.’
Hearing from a group of patients who credited the centre with supporting them, the Princess added: ‘What seems to be really fantastic is that there is a real personal approach: what helps one person – acupuncture or something – might not help another. Others might want different support and to talk to someone.’
‘Having gone through it myself’, she added, she could now better understand the challenges of finding support.
‘Some people don’t have access and don’t necessarily know how this system can help them,’ she said.
‘Joining the dots for patients and families…while there might be fantastic community work going on, if it’s bitty and there isn’t one place and one body bringing these support networks together, it’s hard to reach out, particularly when you’re vulnerable.
A stunning new portrait of the Princess of Wales taken at Windsor this week by Matt Porteous
‘I can see it has such a transformative effect.’
Hearing about the centre’s choir, the Princess added: ‘Having these creative avenues is really fantastic.’
Meghan Markle alsoreportedly tried acupuncture to ‘boost the flow of blood to her uterus’ while pregnant with Archie.
The Duchess of Sussex wassaid to be having sessions with London-based acupuncturist-to-the-stars Ross Bar.
Barr boasts a glittering client list and is understood to have treated the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the lead up to their wedding in May last year.
‘Meghan has been having regular acupuncture sessions to help her unwind and relax,’ a source close to Barr told Vanity Fair.
‘It’s brilliant for the blood circulation and boosting blood flow to the uterus. She plans to use acupuncture right up to her due date.’
The Princess of Waleshas also reflected on the healing power of nature as part of her recovery.
‘The natural world’s capacity to inspire us, to nurture us and help us heal and grow is boundless and has been understood for generations.
‘It is through nature, that we can fully understand the true interconnectedness of all things, the importance of balance and the importance of renewal and resilience. Connecting to nature helps us to experience a deeper sense of ourselves, the world around us, and each other.’
She adds: ‘Spring is a season of rebirth, of hope and new beginnings. From the dark days of winter, the outside world quietly awakens with new life, and there comes a sense of optimism, anticipation, and positive, hopeful change.
‘Just as nature revives and renews so too can we. Let us reconnect to nature and celebrate a new dawn within our hearts.
‘It is often from the smallest of seeds that the greatest change can happen, and in this ever-growing complex world, we need to hold on to what connects us all.
‘Spring is here, so let’s make the most of it together,’ she said in a video released by the palace.
The princess also makes clear how much she hopes that her message will provide an antidote to the ‘increasingly complex and digital world’.
Signing off the post with ‘C’ – a sign that it personally comes from her – Catherine writes: ‘This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, we are celebrating humanity’s longstanding connection to nature, and its capacity to inspire us and help us to heal and grow in mind, body and spirit.
‘As we confront the challenges of an increasingly complex and digital world, the importance of the connection between humanity and nature takes on even more significance.
‘The Mother Nature series is a reminder and reflection of the beauty and complexity of the human experience. It is a tribute to the lessons we can learn from nature, helping us to foster our own growth, strengthen our bonds with the world around us and each other.’
‘Mother Nature’ is described as a ‘celebration of the raw, untamed beauty of the changing seasons across the UK’.
