Dealing with disquiet over Kate’s cancer video | Letters
I’m grateful to Hilary Osborne for helping me understand why the Princess of Wales’s video left me so disquieted (Kate’s recovery is great news – but be wary of a soft-focus view of life after chemo, 11 September),I had stage 2, grade 2 invasive breast cancer last Christmas, with talk of chemotherapy after the tumour biopsy – until genomic testing gave me a reprieve,So I “got off lightly”, and need to “look on the bright side”, as some friends unhelpfully remind me,There are some silver linings, but all cancer is crap,And even without chemotherapy, I still feel greyed-out.
My heart aches for Kate, and broadly speaking I’m a royalist.But did her PR team really have to add so much saccharine? And now I feel just a bit more rubbish about myself and my failure to fully thrive after my own tough, but less tough, year.Ali HutchisonDorchester, Dorset I completely agree with Hilary Osborne’s article and also felt that while being pleased that Kate has completed her treatment, the jarring and somewhat smug video was inappropriate, and perhaps even a little insulting to those who have experienced this journey in the real world.My memories of this journey are of fear and terror of how the mortgage and bills were to be paid, how my deeply distressed daughters would cope if I died, and how on earth I would pick up the pieces of my life if I were fortunate enough to complete this gruelling treatment.The privilege that oozes from this video made it unrelatable for those ordinary mortals like myself who had to navigate the same (but very different in so many ways) path.
I am certainly no royalist, but I also felt that if such a soft-focus cinematic video had been released by Harry and Meghan, the media reaction would have been very different indeed.Jane DoveIsleworth, London “There is … a childish outspokenness in illness,” wrote Virginia Woolf in her essay On Being Ill.Things are said, truths blurted out, which the cautious respectability of health conceals.Was the short video in which the Princess of Wales wanted to share her illness no more than someone diagnosed with cancer who wanted to tell a wider circle than her family and her close friends? Perhaps she felt a need to share her feelings with the rest of the world.Many of us have been in similar situations, although without the restraints of royal life.
We want to share with others who are happy to listen about the burden of illness,Perhaps later, Kate, as many others, will look back on this video as a mistake,Many of us have been there and spoken more than we normally would,Let us hope that she will one day look back on this video and ask herself why she felt the need to make it,Juliet ClibbornLondon Hilary Osborne’s article resonated with me.
The year after finishing chemotherapy and radiation was not a good one, despite the knowledge that I was cancer-free.Also, being more or less hair-free for several months while it started growing again was difficult.There was that greyness that Hilary mentions, and there was feeling angry, and invisible, and there were despairing tears at work.Afterwards, it took nearly a year for me to feel (which means “look”) normal again.Good for Kate that she’s better.
She’s lucky that the treatment she had didn’t make her lose her hair.But she must know that many others undergoing chemotherapy aren’t so lucky.Since she’s chosen not to share the details of the type of cancer she had, or the type of drugs she was given to treat it (which spared her hair), in my opinion she probably shouldn’t share the artificial, golden-filtered view of life post-cancer in her video either.Nadia LawrenceMunich, Germany Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it.A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
IMF postpones Russia visit after heavy criticism across Europe
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indefinitely postponed a staff mission to Moscow this week to review the Russian economy for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, after the move came under heavy criticism from several of Kyiv’s European allies.After revelations in the Guardian of widespread condemnation, the IMF said it would spend more time gathering information for a “rigorous analysis”.Officials of the Washington-based organisation were due to travel to the Russian capital and meet “stakeholders” before publishing an assessment of the economy.The IMF said last week it was a “mutual obligation” to carry out an article IV annual review of a member country and the situation in Russia had become “more settled”.On Friday, nine European countries protested against the IMF’s plans, saying it would damage the reputation of the fund to resume dialogue with a country that had invaded another
Aslef train drivers vote to back pay deal and end two-year standoff
Train drivers have voted to back a pay deal that will resolve the last remaining conflict between rail operators and unions after more than two years of strikes that have brought misery for passengers.Members of the driver’s union Aslef voted overwhelmingly to support the pay offer by the Department for Transport (DfT) last month, which would mean a pay rise of almost 15% over three years.The approval by 97% of Aslef’s more than 20,000 members ends the union’s dispute with 16 train operating companies in England, which began in July 2022.Drivers have taken 18 days of strike action since then, resulting in a near complete shutdown of English lines and some cross-border services, as well as a run of overtime bans that have caused widespread disruption.Last month, Aslef’s management revealed it had agreed a pay offer in principle with the DfT that mean a pay rise of 5% for 2022-23, 4
Former M&S boss Stuart Rose to run struggling Asda as co-owner steps back
Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer and Topshop, is to take charge of running Asda as the struggling supermarket’s co-owner Mohsin Issa steps back from executive duties amid falling sales.The company said Lord Rose, the chair of Asda, will lead the business alongside Rob Hattrell, another director on the supermarket’s board and a partner at its majority shareholder, TDR Capital, the private equity group.Rose last month called on Issa to step back as he said he was “embarrassed” by Asda’s performance.Issa will remain a co-owner of Asda and a non-executive on its board. He will become the chief executive of EG Group, the petrol forecourts operation where he and his brother Zuber Issa made their fortune
Tupperware files for bankruptcy in US and hunts for new owners
Tupperware, the lossmaking 78-year-old American plastic food container brand, has filed for bankruptcy and is on the hunt for new owners as it attempts to lure younger customers.The company, which was founded by the chemist Earl Tupper in 1946 and became known for its patented “burping” seal, has started US chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as bosses said that its finances had been “severely impacted” by the economic environment.Tupperware became famous in the 1950s and 1960s when sales representatives, mostly women, held Tupperware parties to sell its range of plastic containers. For many, it was an opportunity to earn extra money for their households on a flexible schedule that did not require a full-time job outside the home.The Massachusetts-headquartered company eventually became synonymous with home food storage and experienced a revival during the coronavirus pandemic when lockdown-bound customers spent more time cooking at home
With inflation staying at 2.2%, will Bank of England cut interest rates this week?
For a second month running, inflation has fallen short of the Bank of England’s expectations. After beginning the process of cutting interest rates last month, the big question is whether Threadneedle Street could cut again on Thursday.There is little doubt inflation has returned to more manageable levels, having dropped from a peak of 11.1% less than two years ago, the highest since the 1980s. With the consumer prices index at 2
UK inflation stays at 2.2% as lower petrol prices offset by higher air fares
The UK’s annual inflation rate remained at 2.2% in August, matching the rate in July, as lower petrol prices at the pump were offset by higher air fares.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living remained steady, matching forecasts by City economists and hovering just above the Bank of England’s 2% target.Consumers have seen inflation ease from above 10% in early 2023, mainly because of lower increases in the cost of energy and food.The rise in the consumer prices index (CPI) was below the Bank’s forecast for a rise of almost 2
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