Princess of Wales returns to Royal Marsden to review holistic care centre plans
Kate visited the hospital where she was treated for cancer to see plans for a new holistic wellbeing centre, funded partly by her Three Peaks Challenge.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Princess of Wales has returned to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, where she received treatment for cancer, to review plans for a new holistic care centre. The visit, described as private, was her latest engagement at the hospital, which she has said is close to her heart. She met senior staff and patients to hear about the proposed centre for holistic wellbeing and recovery, which is being built partly with money she raised during her Three Peaks Challenge last summer.
The princess, who announced she was in remission in January 2024, has spoken publicly about the importance of holistic care alongside traditional treatment. During the visit, she met patients receiving both clinical and holistic therapies, including speech therapy, breathing techniques and acupuncture. One patient, Sam Surakumar, a brain tumour patient, shared stories with her about how their families had supported them during treatment.
The Royal Marsden is fundraising for a specialist centre for holistic wellbeing and recovery. The princess completed the Three Peaks Challenge in under 24 hours, climbing the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales, where her family waited for her. She said at the time she wanted to give something back after her own treatment. Staff at the hospital said her presence had an uplifting effect on patients and colleagues. It is hoped the new centre will be completed within the next five years, providing a benefit for future patients thanks to funding from its most famous one.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Princess of Wales returned to the Royal Marsden hospital where she had received cancer treatment. | · | |||
| The new facility at the hospital was partly funded by money raised during the Princess's three peaks challenge. | · | · | ||
| The Princess of Wales's cancer treatment is complete and she is in remission. | · | · | ||
| It is hoped the new cancer centre will be completed within the next five years. | · | · | · | |
| The Princess of Wales is joint patron of the Royal Marsden Hospital. | · | · | · | |
| The Princess of Wales said a planned cancer centre would be transformative for patient care. | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC focused on the personal connection between the princess and the hospital, highlighting her gratitude and the specific holistic therapies she encountered. It included detailed comments from staff and a patient, and referenced her social media post from the Three Peaks Challenge.
- “I had incredible care, hand support, from a huge team, really grateful on a personal level”
- “We saw today how important it was the human contact that she had with our patients here in the day unit. They were uplifted.”
Sky News emphasised the timeline of Kate's remission announcement and noted she is now joint patron of the hospital. The report stressed the importance of holistic care and framed the visit as another step in her ongoing connection to the Marsden.
- “It was at the beginning of last year that Kate made a visit to the Marsden to thank the staff there who had helped her and treated her on the day that she announced that she was in remission with her cancer.”
- “She carried out that challenge to raise funds for a new holistic wellbeing centre at the Marsden.”
ITV highlighted the transformative impact of the planned centre, including a quote from a patient who said the funding would change his life. The report stressed the evidence for holistic treatments improving survival and gave a completion timeline of five years.
- “The Princess of Wales says this is her small way of being able to give back and say thank you for the incredible care she says she received at the Royal Marsden in central London.”
- “There's a lot of good data now to show that some types of holistic treatments actually improve survival.”
- “It's hoped the new centre will be completed in the next five years.”
GB News gave a brief summary of the visit, focusing on its private nature and the fact that she was treated there before announcing her remission. It noted her recent Three Peaks Challenge and referred to her as the future Queen.
- “The future Queen recently completed the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales to raise money for the facility.”
Broadcast Timeline
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