The gap was only 100 minutes, but it might as well have been 100 light years.
At 4.29pm on Monday afternoon, the Prince and Princess of Wales released a stunningly powerful three-minute film about Kate’s ongoing battle with cancer.
And at 6.09pm, Netflix released a promo for a new documentary series about Polo made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Of course, it may just have been a stupendous coincidence but if you believe that, then then I’ve got some very dodgy old Ford Cortinas to sell you.
Watch Piers’ explosive interviews on his Uncensored YouTube channel here
One thing is indisputable, and it’s that the separate announcements perfectly encapsulated the very different lives of these two couples now.
One, featuring the heir to the throne and his health-stricken wife, was an extraordinarily moving, humble, and profoundly inspiring insight into what it’s like to have a life-threatening illness when you have a loving young family, regardless of wealth or status.
The other, featuring two spoiled brat renegades who ditched royal duty and service for a life of self-enriching Hollywood glitz and glamour, was a nauseatingly ill-timed self-promotional plug for a series about a sport so elite only millionaires can play it.
Regardless of whether Meghan and Harry deliberately rushed out their promo to try to spoil Kate and William’s big announcement, or just to capitalise on the megaton-sized global attention it instantly received, it landed like a plop of unwanted pigeon poop on a pavement.
All Tuesday’s newspaper front pages, from England and Australia to America and India, were dominated by images from the Wales’s film, with barely a cursory side mention to the Sussex’s bejewelled-horse-and-mallet grift.
I can only begin to imagine the indignant shrieks of hand-wringing rage that emanated from a certain mansion in Montecito, California when the Sussexes realised their latest money-grabbing venture had once again been eclipsed by their sworn sibling and sister-in-law enemies at Kensington Palace.
But enough of those clowns. They’ve made their sleazy royal-fleecing beds and can lie in them.
Instead, let me pay tribute to the incredible mini movie narrated by Kate about her cancer.
First, it represents a seismic departure from anything the royals have ever done before.
As a former newspaper editor, I’m used to very brief, terse, unemotional statements about anything to do with the private lives or health of the Royal Family, if they deigned to comment at all.
But Kate and William know we live in very different times now, and that young people today expect a more touchy-feely, Instagram-friendly sharing approach if the magic of the Monarchy is to be maintained.
The film might have felt a bit schmaltzy to older people from the stiff-upper-lip generations, but I loved it.
It felt real, authentic, and very human.
And it made me feel quite emotional watching it, probably because like so many other people, I currently have first-hand experience of someone very close to me going through cancer hell.
At its core was the message that the dreaded Big C can strike anyone at any time, and it doesn’t matter how much money and privilege you have or how many tiaras you wear.
I thought Kate’s commentary was word-perfect in its honesty, humility and hope.
First, there was her relief that the chemo treatment is over, for now.
Cancer drugs take a brutal toll on patients, both physically and emotionally.
They can make you exhausted, nauseous, constipated; they fog your brain, wreck your hair, crack your nails, burn up your mouth, bitter your palate, kill your appetite.
That’s bad enough for a normal person out of the spotlight.
But imagine what it’s like to go through all that as a Princess expected to always look like one in public?
Kate is not given to self-pity, but she did admit: ‘The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown. The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.’
That was such an eloquent description that will have resonated so strongly with anyone who has cancer, especially in the acknowledgement that it can be as tough for those around you who love and care about you as it is for yourself.
Then Kate said something which will have resonated even more with fellow cancer sufferers: “With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.
“This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.”
Wow.
We hear a lot about the need to always remember what’s really important in life, but how much do we truly think about it until something terrible happens to force us to?
Kate is a woman who on the face of it has everything many women would love – palaces, servants, virtually unlimited budgets for clothes and jewellery, global superstardom.
Yet cancer has transformed her into a woman who would gladly give up all those material and ephemeral things for good health and the ability to continue being with her family – of ‘simply loving and being loved.’
It’s great to hear she’s cancer-free at the moment, but I was also glad she made a point of saying she knows she’s not out of the woods yet.
It will be at least five years before doctors will be able to say with any confidence that she’s cured, and as Kate said: ‘My path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.’
We don’t know exactly what cancer she’s had, or how rough her treatment has been on her, but we do know it’s been serious and rough enough for her to make barely any public appearances this year, and she’s not yet made any firm commitment to do more any time soon.
To which I say, and I’m sure I speak for millions of others, take all the time you need, Your Royal Highness.
Kate’s illness and lengthy enforced absence from the public stage, has reinforced just how beloved and important she is to this country, as is her immediate family who all came across so wonderfully well in the film.
Nothing defines the character of a human being more than how they respond to adversity, and Kate has responded with such magnificent courage, dignity and grace to her biggest challenge.
The final words of her statement said all you need to know about her: ‘To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey – I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.’
Before she got cancer, Kate was already a beloved public figure.
Now, as this film so evocatively emphasised, she’s become a towering beacon of hope and inspiration to cancer sufferers around the world.
Our future Queen is a national treasure about whom we all now feel very protective, and unlike the bitter California duo spewing their bile and filling their boots across the Atlantic, she is the epitome of what it really means to be a royal.
