Queen Camilla’s niece Ayesha Shand opens up about her endometriosis struggle: Here’s what we know

Looks like there’s some fault in Royal Family’s stars as 2024 has started with a lot of health problems. Not just for the main and senior royals in the limelight like King Charles and Kate Middleton but also for lesser-known royal connections. Just a day after it was revealed that Prince Edward - The Duke of Edinburgh is taking a short break from his royal duties, Queen Camilla’s niece Ayesha Shand has revealed her health struggles.

Ayesha Shand is the daughter of the Queen’s late brother Mark Shand. The 29-year-old took to Instagram and shared her ordeal with a long-term battle that even Queen Consort Camilla was affected by. Here’s what’s happening!

Queen Camilla’s niece Ayesha Shand opens up about endometriosis

Ayesha posted a candid video on Instagram as she informed her friends and followers about the struggles of endometriosis. She revealed that she has been fighting an 'agonising, isolating and unbearable' battle with it. She wrote:

Every month I ingest hundreds of painkillers, faint, vomit, spend nights and days crouched on the floor crying. This is all followed by intense waves of helplessness and depression.

The Royal relative is ‘lucky enough’ to be operated for endometriosis in the next few weeks while many women live with it. She shared:

Endometriosis is very difficult to diagnose, treat and, ultimately, cure. Most women live this cycle of pain in silence. I am lucky enough to be operated in a few weeks.

Ayesha didn’t reveal what surgery she will be going through but endometriosis can be treated with a laparoscopy, reports Hello! Magazine. Laparoscopy sees small cuts made in the stomach to destroy or cut out the endometriosis tissue.

What is Endometriosis?

The painful condition can cause extreme period pain - something that Sophie of Edinburgh has also spoken about in the past. According to the Hello! Magazine, endometriosis is a common condition where ‘the tissue that lines the inside of the womb (the endometrium) also grows outside of the womb, usually in the abdomen, ovaries, bladder and bowel.’

The symptoms of the disease vary from person to person but many women have experienced either a heavy or painful period, pain in the lower abdomen or back and spotting between cycles because of it. However common, endometriosis doesn’t have a cure but many medicines and surgeries can help reduce its symptoms.

Has Queen Camilla also been affected by endometriosis?

Queen Camilla has opened up about her family history of osteoporosis over the years. Reportedly, her mother died of the condition in 1994. Queen Camilla herself is understood to be affected by endometriosis as she underwent surgery in 2007.

Queen Camilla - then Duchess of Cornwall - was 59 years old when she was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in March 2007. The palace announced that she was undergoing the surgery but didn’t get into the details of it, reports Town & Country Magazine.

Clarence House described the operation as routine and said it was not cancer-related and ‘planned for a while,’ confirms The Standard. They said:

The timing of the operation was scheduled to cause minimal disruption to her diary.

The operation was ‘one of the most commonly performed,’ with one in five women undergoing a hysterectomy by the age of 55.

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Sources Used

Hello! Magazine: Queen Camilla's niece Ayesha Shand in tears over 'agonising' condition ahead of life-changing surgery

Hello! Magazine: Endometriosis: how to manage the condition

Town & Country Magazine: A History of Royal Surgeries (And What the Palace Said About Them)

The Standard: Camilla cancels her engagements as she has a hysterectomy