Kate will get through this – but the first thing you think of as cancer mum is ‘I can’t leave my kids’, says Sarah Beeny

TELLY cancer survivor Sarah Beeny yesterday praised the Princess of Wales for her “bravery”, and told — as a fellow mum — of the heartache she will be going through.

Mother of four Sarah said Kate’s moving video message, in which she recalled how she and William took “time to explain everything” to their three young children, brought back memories of her own.

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Mother-of-four Sarah said Kate’s moving video message, in which she recalled how she and William took “time to explain everything” to their three young children, brought back memories of her own.

The property expert told The Sun on Sunday: “She’s incredible and I know she will get through this.

“But as a mum the first thing you think when you hear the C-word is, ‘My kids need me, I can’t leave my kids’.

“Mine were a little older, which made it easier in a way.

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“Kate’s children are too young to fully understand.”

Sarah immediately broke the news to sons Billy, now 19, Charlie, 18, Rafferty, 15, and Laurie, 14, after her breast cancer diagnosis in August 2022.

The 52-year-old said: “When I walked in the house, Billy, who was 17 at the time, looked at me and said, ‘What’s wrong — you haven’t got cancer, have you?’ And I said, ‘Well, actually, yes I have.’

“Charlie, Rafferty and Laurie then all arrived home together, and I was very matter of fact about it.

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“I told them, ‘Just so you know, I’ve got breast cancer. But it’s going to be fine, I’ve just got to have some treatment’.

“They all asked me if I was going to be fine and made me promise I wouldn’t lie. That’s the thing, it’s all about trust. It was scary at times for them and of course they struggled. The truth is, when you have cancer your entire family goes through it too.”

Sarah also leaned for support on her husband, artist Graham Swift, 51. She admitted: “I said to him after treatment, ‘I didn’t feel I had the emotional capacity for you to have not been OK’.

“I think he knew I just needed him to be OK, but looking back that is a massive pressure which he bore incredibly well.”

Like Kate, Sarah made the decision to go public with her diagnosis — and she believes the Princess will be an inspiration.

Sarah said: “She has dealt with it all with such bravery and grace. She is fabulous. I won’t hear a bad word said against her.

The poor thing she’s got to do all this in front of the whole world

Sarah on Kate Middleton

“I felt so terribly sorry for her because she’s in the public eye.

“I have one billionth of that fame that she has and it was still quite overwhelming. My heart goes out to her.

“People were so unbelievably lovely and gorgeous and supportive but it can be a lot and I just thought, ‘The poor thing, she’s got to do all this in front of the whole world’. That’s really hard.

Given the all clear

“But people are so kind and supportive. I hope she knows everyone is behind her.”

Sarah had chemotherapy before having a double mastectomy. She was given the all-clear last April.

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Despite Sarah’s treatment being full of “ups and downs”, she said Kate can have faith in modern medicine.

She added: “The treatment is amazing. The outcomes are better than ever.” Sarah decided to embrace her hair loss thanks to the support of her children.

She recalled: “The very first time I went out with no hair, I was with one of my sons and said, ‘I’m going to go and pay for petrol without my hat on’. And he said, ‘Yes, Mum, go for it!’

“That’s where the kids come in. They give you this strength and support. He told me, ‘Go for it, put your shoulders back and walk in there’, so I did just that and walked in with my bald head.

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“When I got back in the car he said how very proud he was of me. Children have a weird habit of stepping up to the mark when you need them to. They were actually very cool, my kids.”

Sarah hopes Kate will also be able to take comfort from George, ten, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five.

She said: “The children will be a massive support. She will be OK but it’s a lot for her to go through.

“When they first say those words, ‘You’ve got cancer’, what you hear is, ‘What kind of coffin would you like?’

“They tell you you’re not going to die but that’s all you can think. So it’s actually all upwards from there. Cancer is no longer a death sentence, it can be treated.”

Sarah was ten when her mum Ann died from the disease at the age of 39.

Some sort of mystery

Her parents took the decision not to tell her or her elder brother Diccon about the diagnosis.

She said: “I didn’t even know she had cancer, she just died one day. And having gone through it with my own children, I think honesty is almost always the best option where kids are concerned.

“However complicated it might be, it’s better to tell them the truth than dress it up and have it become some sort of mystery. The thing about cancer, we don’t talk about it. We’re all so terrified about it because of things that happened a long time ago to someone we love.”

Sarah now embraces life in the moment.

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She said: “Of course, you’re not cured of cancer, you finish your treatment and the doctors say, ‘We hope it won’t come back — good luck and off you go!’

“I try really hard for it to not be the thing that defines me.

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“We could all die tomorrow. I could get run over by a bus.”

Sarah added: “All you can do is stay right in the moment — it makes you live for today.”