Stephen Colbert has expressed regret about making cruel jokes towards Princess Kate.
The US talk show host appeared on his show, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, on Monday evening to address the Princess of Wales's cancer diagnosis.
Last week, Kate, 42, recorded a video message at Adelaide Cottage to announce she was undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer.
This video was released on Friday evening after weeks of speculation online regarding Kate's whereabouts.
Kate was the subject of cruel attacks from Stephen Colbert
Getty / CBS
During her emotional video, the princess said: "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."
The 42-year-old added: "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.
"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.
Stephen Colbert is a popular US talk show host
PA
"As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.
"But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok."
Colbert, 59, jumped on the trend of mocking the rumoured disappearance of Princess Kate, something which celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively also did.
On Monday evening, the talk show host appeared on his show to address the backlash.
Kate recorded a video to announce her cancer diagnosisPAHe said: “You know, folks, I don’t know if you have noticed, but we do a lot of shows and I tell a lot of jokes, and I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly what everybody’s talking about.
"And for the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life.
"And two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery and all of the reporting about that.
"And when I made those jokes, that upset some people and — even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that.
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Getty"I mean, a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past. And I’m sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future.
"But there is a standard that I try to hold myself to. And that is, I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.
"Now, I don’t know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, she is the future Queen of England and I assume she’s going to be be getting the best possible medical care, but regardless of what it is, I know and I’m sure many of you, far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family.
"And... though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at 'The Late Show' would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough."