Princess of Wales’s diagnosis message sparks huge rise in visits to cancer support website

The Princess of Wales’s announcement that she is having treatment for cancer prompted the biggest rise in weekend visits to a leading cancer website since the first Covid lockdown, it has emerged.

Macmillan Cancer Support said that after the Princess had said on Friday evening that she was being treated for cancer, there were almost 100,000 visits to its information and support pages.

It marked a 10 per cent increase on the same period last year and the highest for a weekend period since at least March 2020, when the first Covid lockdown was announced.

A similar spike in visits was seen in February following King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, when the same pages were visited almost 50,000 times in a single day.

Macmillan Cancer Support, of which the King is patron, said that by speaking out both he and the Princess were helping others to seek support.

Gemma Peters, the charity’s chief executive, said: “We hear from people every day who are worried about how cancer will affect their loved ones and how best to support each other through it.

“In sharing her news, the Princess of Wales has raised awareness of these worries and will be helping to encourage others who have concerns to visit their GP and seek support.

“Many will be relating to the Prince and Princess of Wales at this time. Some of the first thoughts parents have after being diagnosed with cancer are how it may affect their children, and whether talking to them about it will make them worry, but it is important to give them the chance to talk openly about their fears.”

The 42-year-old Princess released a personal message on Friday, revealing that, following abdominal surgery in January, post-operative tests found that “cancer had been present”. 

She said she was in the early stages of chemotherapy, adding that informing and reassuring her three young children had been her priority in recent weeks.

Her decision to speak out has been hailed by cancer charities and patients, and Macmillan has issued guidance about how to talk to children about cancer.

Prof Peter Johnson, the NHS national clinical director for cancer, said cancer “turns your life upside down”, adding: “The Princess of Wales bravely speaking out about her diagnosis will help others to do the same.

“Thanks to this, we have seen a spike in people visiting vital information on our website about signs and symptoms. There is no doubt that talking about cancer saves lives if it encourages people to come forward sooner if things aren’t right.

“One in two people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime, and detecting the disease early gives the best chance of successful treatment. Today in the NHS we are checking more people than ever, more cancers are being diagnosed at an early stage and survival rates are at an all-time high.”

Cancer Research UK also experienced an increase in web traffic, which the charity said showed how important it was for high profile figures to speak out.

Michelle Mitchell, the chief executive, said: “On Friday March 22, the day of the Princess’s diagnosis, there were over 200,000 visits to our cancer information web pages. This was a 15.2 per cent increase compared to the day before the announcement.

“These figures show how high-profile cancer cases can act as a prompt to encourage people to find out more or think about their own health. If people spot something that’s not normal for them or isn’t going away, they should check with their GP. Spotting cancer at an early stage means treatment is more likely to be successful.”

In January, NHS England saw a surge in people looking for information on melanoma skin cancer after Sarah, Duchess of York, was diagnosed with the disease.

There was one visit every 13 seconds to the NHS website for information on melanoma in the two days following the announcement. NHS England reported a 370 per cent spike in visits to its cancer page following the announcement.