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Kate Middleton should be open and honest with her kids about her cancer diagnosis -- 'cause that'll be the best way for them to deal with it ... per a prominent expert in the field.

We spoke with Dr. Charles Sophy on "TMZ Live" Friday just minutes after the Princess of Wales revealed to the world she's dealing with cancer -- and he weighed in on how she and Prince William's children might be processing this heavy news about their mom.

Sophy -- a renowned child and family psychiatrist -- says lots of communication with the children, even about adult matters, is the best route to help them understand what's going on  ... and so is listening, as kids will ask the questions they want and need answers to.

Dr. Sophy says the Royal Couple needs to be transparent with their children -- 10-year-old George, 8-year-old Charlotte, and 5-year-old Louis -- and address the physical changes Kate may go through early on so the little ones aren't taken aback by things that may come.

On the issue of talking about really hard questions regarding the serious nature of the disease and how Kate's feeling throughout ... Sophy advises William and Kate to leave answers open-ended -- not promising a miraculous recovery, while also trying not to alarm the kids at the same time. He says it's a fine line ... one Will and Kate will have to walk together.

Since the young Royals are of different ages, some may question whether giving them varying levels of information is the right way to go ... but Sophy says no. He thinks William and Kate should give them all the same general information and let them process it how they need to.

Of course, Prince William will also be dealing with his own emotions following his wife's diagnosis ... and Sophy thinks it may bring up old emotions and trauma regarding the death of another famous Royal -- his mother, Princess Diana. Sophy says Will has to find the balance to weather his family through this storm.

Kate says she and her husband have already filled their children in on what's going on -- and that she's needed time out of the spotlight to do so correctly and with care.

1:56 PM PT -- A rep for the Teenage Cancer Trust -- an org that Kate has worked with in the past, before her cancer diagnosis -- tells TMZ ... "Our thoughts are with Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and we wish her all the best for her treatment."

They add, "If you think you have cancer yourself, it’s important to get checked out as soon as you can."

12:11 PM PT -- King Charles is extending his well-wishes to Kate Middleton during her cancer battle, with Buckingham Palace saying, "His Majesty is so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did."

They go on to say that after Kate's hospitalization, Charles has "remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks." BP continues, noting Their Majesties "will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time."

Kate Middleton just announced she has cancer -- breaking her silence on months of speculation over her health ... and it sounds serious.

The Princess of Wales showed face Friday in a video that Kensington Palace posted -- and in it, Kate addresses the public ... revealing she was diagnosed with cancer, something that was discovered after her abdominal surgery in January.

Kate says, "In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment." She didn't address the specific type of cancer she's battling.

Kate also appears to allude to her lengthy absence, as she says she and Will have needed time to address this health issue with their three children -- all of whom are fairly young -- as she's wanted to assure them that she's going to be okay.

We broke the story, Kensington Palace was geared up to provide a major update on Kate's health -- something they've now done, and it's left many heartbroken as Kate battles this.

In her video, Kate asks for privacy during this difficult time as she undergoes chemotherapy.

The announcement ends months of speculation over Kate's whereabouts and health -- which kicked off in mid-January when the Princess of Wales was hospitalized for abdominal surgery ... a hospitalization that came out of nowhere, and which was supposed to end in 2 weeks.

Obviously, Kate was out of the public eye for way longer than that ... and the longer it went on, the more they pedaled conspiracy theories and fueled a never-ending rumor mill.

At first, all the talk and gossip about Kate started as relatively light -- namely, through a bunch of memes and jokes online ... where people poked fun about the situation -- but which only grew in seriousness the more that the Palace attempted to address all the conjecture.

At first, the Palace just issued a statement -- saying Kate was still recovering and doing well ... and then, not long after, we saw Kate surface in public for the first time ... showing up in a car being driven by her mother, where Kate was wearing shades and maintaining a low profile.

People didn't buy that was Kate, and the memes and jokes only continued -- with the conspiracy theories kicking into overdrive. After that, the Mother's Day photo fiasco occurred.

Remember -- Kensington Palace posted a picture that they said had been taken by Prince William .... showing Kate with her kids. However, it quickly became clear that the image had been doctored in Photoshop -- with several apparent alterations having occurred in editing.

Kate put out a statement in the aftermath of that ... copping to the fact she edited it.

Fast-forward to last weekend, when Kate and William surfaced at a farm shop about a mile from their home -- which became the first true sighting of Kate out and about on her own two feet. While she looked happy and fairly healthy ... many noticed her weight loss.

The cancer news now clarifies why Kate appeared so thin in our video -- she's in treatment for it ... and this is one of the known side effects, and it can take a heavy toll on the body.

This update is clearly devastating for her family and loved ones -- but also, for all of the UK as well ... of which she serves as a key Royal figure, and which she's served dutifully.

It also goes without saying ... Kate is now the second senior Royal to be battling cancer. Her father-in-law, King Charles, was also recently diagnosed with cancer -- although it's unclear what form he has, or at what stage it is. With that said, Charles has been carrying on with his duties of late.

Tough times for Kate and the Royal Family at large ... best wishes to her and all of them.

Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis is on President Biden's radar ... as the White House Press Secretary addressed the news minutes after it broke.

Karine Jean-Pierre kicked off her daily briefing Friday by acknowledging the White House heard the news out of Kensington Palace, and said their thoughts were with the Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince William and the rest of the Royal Family

KJP wished Kate a full recovery, and then said she and the rest of the administration want to respect her privacy, and wouldn't comment further on the matter.

Jean-Pierre added that she wouldn't answer questions about whether the prez had spoken with any member of the Royal Family -- wisely anticipating what was coming next from the press corps -- and then moved on to other business.

It seems the news caught the White House about as off-guard as the rest of the world ... the Royal Family made no indication of Kate's health until she posted the video this morning at 11 AM PT telling the world about her diagnosis.

As we reported, Kate had abdominal surgery back in January, and she says tests run after the surgery showed cancer had been present. She started a round of preventative chemotherapy and only recently resurfaced in public.

President Biden has a close relationship with King Charles -- discussing climate change last summer on JB's first visit to the UK after Charles was crowned King, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden actually met Kate while attending Charles' Coronation in May 2023.

Kate Middleton didn't disclose what type of cancer she's battling -- but one doctor who specializes in this field says he has a good idea of what it could be ... and how it was found.

Dr. George Crawford -- a general surgeon who focuses on bariatric, colon and minimally invasive procedures in the operating room -- joined "TMZ Live" Friday to discuss the Princess of Wales' announcement ... where she said cancer was found in the aftermath her abdominal surgery.

While Kate didn't get into the details of the exact type of cancer that was found -- Dr. Crawford tells us that, in his professional opinion, it could likely be one of two.

Crawford says that based on Kate's age and other factors ... he speculates that doctors might've discovered either ovarian or uterine cancer -- that's his best guess anyway.

He's not suggesting he knows her exact diagnosis for certain, but Dr. Crawford says his personal experience leads him to land on these two possibilities -- and he even gets into how exactly this may have unfolded.

Dr. Crawford says it's possible that the medical team found something alarming in the middle of the procedure and probably had a biopsy run on it right then and there. Of course, Kate says cancer was discovered after her surgery -- but Dr. Crawford says it's not uncommon to get an answer back fairly quickly ... which can change the course of an entire operation.

He also weighs in on the fact Kate says she just recently started preventative chemo -- which Dr. Crawford says makes sense, seeing how much recovery time is needed for an invasive surgery like the one she seems to have undergone ... and how heavy chemo is on the body.

Kate says she's needed time to recover -- as well as time to address this serious matter with her three young children. The upside ... she says she's getting stronger each day, which sounds promising.

The announcement should hopefully end all the gossip that has poured out of this saga for the past several weeks ... because it's clear, she's dealing with something incredibly urgent.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke at an art event in SoCal this week -- and their appearance happened to come the night before Kate Middleton's cancer announcement.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped out Thursday evening in Los Angeles ... repping their Archewell Foundation at The Kinsey Collection art exhibition hosted at SoFi Stadium.

From a brief clip from the event, Meghan can be heard singing the organizers' praises -- saying she hopes their hard work will be recognized ... and that their success will be proof that they deserve all the praise they receive. Harry stands by as MM made her remarks.

TV personality Shaun Robinson posted pics of the couple at the event for the Kingsley Collection, which is currently touring L.A. with its African-American Art & History Collection.

Even the college basketball world took a momentary pause to digest Kate Middleton's cancer announcement on Friday ... with CBS interrupting its NCAA tournament coverage to bring the news to fans.

With around five minutes remaining in the FAU vs. Northwestern game ... Norah O'Donnell came on the screen to inform CBS' audience that Middleton had just revealed she's been diagnosed with cancer.

The broadcast then played around 30 seconds of Middleton's video explaining her prognosis.

O'Donnell spoke on camera for roughly a minute more ... before the network resumed its planned coverage of the big hoops game.

Owls and Wildcats supporters didn't miss a second of in-game action ... as a lengthy timeout had been called on the floor during the special report.

8:30 AM PT -- Cops just held a presser and provided more details about how exactly Riley Strain was found. They say the body was discovered around 7:28 AM CT when a worker found him after removing an object from the river, after which the body surfaced.

The police say that the Medical Examiner reviewed the body and confirmed it was Riley -- they also say he still had his shirt and watch on him from the night he went missing. Nashville PD says the family was notified, and reiterates no foul play is suspected for now.

The body of Riley Strain -- the Missouri college student who went missing in Nashville 2 weeks ago -- has finally been found ... and it was recovered from a river in the area.

His corpse was discovered Friday in the Cumberland River, reportedly 8 miles away from the DT Nashville area ... where Riley had last been seen after getting separated from his group during a night of bar hopping on March 8.

Cops say there is no foul play suspected at this point, and no trauma observed either. An autopsy to determine a cause of death is pending. Unclear where exactly in the river Strain's body was found or under what circumstances ... but this marks the end of a tragic saga.

Strain first disappeared on a Friday night -- this after getting kicked out of Luke Bryan's 32 Bridge bar along Broadway ... at which point he wandered off on his own.

Surveillance footage released to the public showed Strain aimlessly wandering the streets of Nashville -- at times looking out of sorts and stumbling over. At other points in since-released footage of him from that night -- including body cam video -- Strain looked fairly coherent.

The bar says they asked Riley to leave after he started violating their conduct policies -- suggesting he was heavily intoxicated -- but also insist they did not overserve him.

There were claims the bar had given a lot of booze that night -- but 32 Bridge says their records show he was only given one drink and two waters before he was booted ... at which point, the bar says his friends did not leave with him. The Tennessee ABC is investigating the overserving allegation.

Strain's friends, meanwhile, say he told them he'd meet them back at their hotel, just a few blocks away, but he never turned up later on.

Instead, it appears Strain got lost and made his way over toward the river -- where different eyewitnesses say they saw him that night ... confirmed by the fact his bank card was recently discovered near that area as well. Search crews have been scouring the river for days now and hadn't found anything ... that is, until today. No word on who found him.

Strain's family have been in Nashville since the beginning ... calling on the public's help, and putting pressure on police to bring in more resources to track him down. We'd even been told by a family spokesperson that his mother and father believed he might still be alive.

Strain was only 22.

RIP

Kate Middleton's mystery disappearance from public view will be solved shortly, TMZ has learned, because Kensington Palace is about to reveal specific details on her health.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the British media has been briefed on Kate's condition, but there is a strict embargo on the information until 2 PM ET, 11 AM PT.

We're also told the Palace will release a video of Kate speaking on her condition.

Our sources say this statement is dramatic, clear and could well put all the controversy surrounding her disappearance to rest.

As you know, the Palace says Kate entered the hospital in January for "scheduled abdominal surgery," but spent 13 days at The London Clinic before returning home, where she has been recuperating.

TMZ aired a special Thursday night on FOX, in which Dr. George Crawford said 13 days suggests when doctors went in for the surgery, they may have found something else.

We're told the Palace will get specific shortly.

Remember ... this all follows several weeks of speculation and innuendo over Kate's whereabouts and her overall condition -- which has been kept under wraps until now.

TMZ broke the story ... video surfaced showing Kate out and about with William last weekend, and she seemed to be doing well. It was the first real sighing of Kate out in the wild, and on her own two feet, since she had her surgery back in January.

There've been other glimpses of her in cars -- but the Windsor Farm Shop seemed to be the first instance of her walking around. Like we said ... she was happy, and looked relatively OK.

Of course, this whole saga kicked into overdrive nearly two weeks ago when Kate posted a Mother's Day photo that featured her and her kids -- but which was later revealed to be inauthentic. All the conspiracy theories about Kate up to that point only doubled.

Now, it appears Kensington Palace is geared up to set the record straight, right from the Princess's mouth.

GloRilla never thought in a million yurrrs she'd be partying up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- but that was the Memphis rapper's real life as she met President Biden face-to-face!!!

But, on the heels of that White House visit, Glo went on CNN to talk about whether it would impact her vote.

The "F.N.F." rapper told Laura Coates she was basically just at the White House for the vibes. When asked about possibly campaigning, she said ... "That ain't got nothing to do with me."

She punctuated her seriousness about not getting all political by singing along to Jill Scott's good mood anthem, "Golden."

Big Glo was amongst the handpicked Gen-Z influencers invited to kick it with Biden and VP Kamala Harris at a Women’s History Month event on Monday -- but her presence at the ballots on Election Day is still up in the air.

Biden's administration is feverishly trying to round up young voters ... their State of the Union watch party on March 7 had swarms of TikTokers and IG stars inside the WH, but TBD if those invites will translate to votes.

We spoke to finance guru Tiffany Aliche following the event, but she was still unsure if the glitzy galas would drive young voters to the polls.

Celine Dion's proving she can still rock by jamming out to Bon Jovi at a Boston Bruins game ... and the heartwarming video also makes it clear she's not letting her health challenges stop her from living life to the max.

Check out the clip -- Celine didn't hold back as she started singing along to the rock band's classic "Livin' on a Prayer" Thursday night at the Bruins game against the NY Rangers ... a rare public appearance amid her ongoing Stiff-Person Syndrome battle.

Celine's right in the thick of the action at Boston's TD Garden alongside her twin sons Nelson and Eddy ... when the camera zeroes in on her as she pumps her fists in the air and claps along while singing along to the catchy tune.

Her inner rockstar comes alive in the X clip shared by fan account @celinebible ... she rises from her seat to unleash an air guitar solo that's pure magic.

You can take the girl off the stage, but you can't take the performer outta her!

Celine wasn't just there to watch the game ... she and her sons got the royal treatment from Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, who introduced them to the team for a legendary line-up read.

The icon's ice hockey antics came hot on the heels of her heartfelt tribute on International Stiff-Person Syndrome Awareness Day ... where she thanked her family, team, and fans for all their love and support since her diagnosis.

Celine was diagnosed with SPS in 2022, and she's been fighting tooth and nail to cope with the autoimmune disorder, even pulling the plug on her tour to prioritize her health.

The truth is ... she has her good days, and bad ones too during this battle. Her sister has said at times Celine is suffering and completely immobilized.

A Porsche recently went flying through the air -- skipping like a stone for a couple hundred feet -- before landing in a shopping center parking lot ... and it was all caught on video.

Surveillance footage from Ann Arbor, Michigan has surfaced -- capturing a wild accident from last week that shows the sports car racing along a road when it seemingly hits some object -- and begins a long sequence of flying, bouncing and smashing its way through a gas station and an adjacent parking lot before finally coming to a rest.

Like we said ... the footage is absolutely bonkers, and more surprising -- nobody died.

Watch for yourself ... the Porsche pops up and twists to its side, smacking on the ground and bouncing numerous times before landing -- right side up -- hundreds of feet down the road.

Video of the crash site hours later on Sunday, March 16 shows the car still sitting in the parking lot ... and the damage the car seemed to do to the asphalt and in the gas station it went careening through.

Ann Arbor police posted an update about the crash as well -- saying officers arrived on the scene and found three individuals after the crash, two 19-year-old females with minor injuries and one 20-year-old male who was transported to the hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive.

Cops say speed and alcohol seem to have been factors in the car crash, and they say they are still investigating the incident.

Olivia Culpo is baring it all in order to drum up interest in her upcoming clothing line ... rockin' nothing but a tiny bikini bottom in a steamy new ad.

Christian McCaffrey's fiancée posted the short commercial on her Instagram page Friday morning ... and, yeah, it's spicy, to say the least.

You can see the former Miss Universe champion sitting by a pool with her top off ... posing for a camera placed strategically behind her.

In a subsequent IG post, Culpo explained it was all to help sell her Montce x Culpo '24 Collection -- which officially drops on March 25.

This ain't the first sexy advert Culpo has taken part in this week ... on Tuesday, she and McCaffrey posed for some sweaty shots to help hawk Bodyarmor's new zero-sugar drink.

It could be one of the last times, however, that Culpo films as an unmarried woman.

Kylie Jenner was all pumped up to push her new canned vodka soda venture ... but things fizzled right out of the gate.

The makeup mogul's driver accidentally crashed into her mom Kris Jenner's $400k Rolls-Royce Ghost while arriving at WeHo's Catch Steak Thursday for the brand's launch party -- and the collision's aftermath is captured in this wild clip.

Check it out ... as the KarJenners were arriving for Kylie's big launch event -- where she was plugging her new booze Sprinter -- one of the drivers behind the wheel in their fleet of SUVs, believed to be that of Kylie's, rammed into Kris's very pricey whip.

As the driver reverses ... you can see the impact was so strong that it left Kris's license plate dangling off the RR's bumper. It amounted to a fender-bender -- but it was still shocking.

Luckily, Kris's luxury ride doesn't seem too messed up ... and it looks like it'll just need a quick trip to the repair shop. That's a relief ... especially seeing how Kris was the first person to snag keys to the ride in 2021.

After the little vehicle run-in, the rest of the evening went on without a hitch for the Sprinter Soda bash, with host Kylie rocking a killer black plunging PVC dress.

Another thing to note -- this outing was the first one Kris made after the tragic news that her sister Karen Houghton recently passed just days earlier. She was all smiles for this, putting on a brave face no doubt.

Despite her personal grief, Kris rocked her momager hat like a boss ... showing up with her trademark support at her daughter's shindig.

As for the bumper thing ... leave it to the insurance.

Candace Owens was fired from her hosting job at the Daily Wire because her bosses were fed up with what they viewed as her repeated promotion of antisemitism ... TMZ has learned.

The conservative media company announced Friday morning that it was parting ways with Candace, and while no official reason was mentioned ... sources with direct knowledge tell us it was squarely over what the Daily Wire honchos saw as antisemitism, and the firing went down early this week.

Candace and fellow Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro have had a very public feud recently on social media over their opposing views on the Israel-Gaza conflict -- and we're told the last straw for the DW was her March 8 appearance on the "Fresh and Fit" podcast.

The hosts were talking to Candace about the rift with Ben, and every time Ben or his wife -- who is Israeli -- was mentioned the show dropped a cha-ching sound effect, an obvious nod to the antisemitic trope about Jews and money.

While Candace didn't say anything to besmirch Ben, we're told the feeling was she didn't say anything to defend him or call out the antisemitism. To be fair, it's unclear whether she heard that sound effect while recording the podcast.

We're told Daily Wire execs had previous conversations with Candace in an attempt to understand her position -- as they didn't want to censor her -- but they felt the podcast incident crossed the line.

As one source in the know put it, Candace often bragged about being one of the best communicators in media, so the DW execs felt "she knew what she was doing."

We're also told Shapiro was not involved in the decision to fire Candace, and he doesn't have any power to do so.

Candace addressed her feud with Ben when she was on "The Breakfast Club" Thursday, saying she was not anti-Israel or antisemitic ... she's simply against all forms of genocide. A source connected to Candace insists the same, telling us "She's obviously not an antisemite."

Kendrick Lamar took some shots at both Drake and J. Cole this week with yet another sneaky feature ... and it's clear he doesn't consider them to be in his league.

The diss was heard on Future and Metro Boomin's new album, "We Don't Trust You" ... where Kendrick is featured on the track "Like That" -- and he goes in on Drizzy and Cole in his verse, where it's obvious he's talking about them.

Kendrick didn't take too kindly to Drake and Cole's "First Person Shooter" song that launched their joint tour -- where Cole and Drake were very kumbaya and buddy-buddy -- K.dot kinda spat in both of their faces ... rapping, "Yeah, get up with me, f*** sneak dissing/'First Person Shooter,' I hope they came with three switches."

KL continues ... "Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD // Motherf*** the big three, n****, it's just big me // N****, bum, what? I'm really like that // And your best work is a light pack // N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack // N**** bum, 'fore all your dogs gettin' buried."

Definitely not so subliminal ... Kendrick is going straight for Drake and Cole.

Remember, on Drake and Cole's "First Person Shooter" duet ... Cole rapped, "Love when they argue the hardest MC/Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the Big3 like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Drake decided to cut Kendrick out of the equation in his verse ... "Who the GOAT? Who you bitches really rooting for?/Like a kid that act bad from January to November, n****, it's just you and Cole."

Now, Kendrick is saying there aren't 3 GOATs ... there's only one, and it's him.

Fans are scrambling to know what went wrong ... Drake co-starred on Kendrick's debut album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" and brought him along on his 'Club Paradise' Tour to elevate his career. So, they've been friendly over the years.

Cole and Kendrick were once in hot pursuit of doing a joint LP together -- and he and Metro Boomin were recently in the studio together too.

Metro's been beefing with Drake for months ... but Future and Drake won a Grammy together last year.

An American Airlines flight descended into total chaos when an antisemitic passenger spewed a seriously hateful insult at a flight attendant before ending up in a headlock.

You gotta check out this wild clip -- the guy in the blue striped shirt totally loses it even before the flight from Tampa to Philadelphia takes off Tuesday ... he's hurling hate left and right, accusing everyone of ganging up on him.

But, when he drops an antisemitic slur on a flight attendant, you can see the shock on everyone's faces ... but he doesn't care and goes on to yell, "I'm trying to get to my home country, and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country!"

It gets even crazier when he gets into a scuffle with another passenger -- the guy in the blue hoodie -- accusing him of touching him. They get in each other's faces, and there's plenty of machismo posturing, before the dude in the hoodie takes charge and puts the antisemite in a headlock!

Further backup arrives with the woman in a backward hat trying to calm things down, saying she's a cop ... and turns out the hoodie guy is too.

As he applied the headlock, he yelled, "Now put your hands down and don't touch anybody" ... before escorting him to the plane's exit.