Selena Gomez Receives Royal Praise From Princess Eugenie After Revealing Kidney Scar Photo

Selena Gomez got some royal support this weekend from Princess Eugenie, who praised the singer for showing off her kidney transplant surgery scar last month. Eugenie, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, has proudly shown her own back scar in the past, even on her wedding day in 2018. The princess battled scoliosis as a child and needed back surgery when she was 12, and she has used her position as a member of the royal family to raise awareness of the condition.

“I thought this was super cool of [Gomez] to show she’s confident of who she is and what she went through after finding it difficult to show her scar. Let’s be proud of her uniqueness,” Eugenie wrote in an Instagram Story post, reports The Daily Mail. The princess, 30, also included Gomez’s original post from Sept. 24. In the photo, Gomez wore a blue one-piece swimsuit and showed the scar from the surgery on her right thigh.

The “Boyfriend” singer had the kidney transplant surgery in 2017 after her friend, actress Francia Raisa, donated her kidney to Gomez. In her caption, Gomez said it was “very difficult” to show her scar at first and she always covered it up in photos. “Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through…and I’m proud of that,” Gomez wrote. She also tagged the maker of the swimsuit, La’Marette, “whose message is just that…all bodies are beautiful.”

Back in October 2018, when Eugenie married James Brooksbank, she wore a custom wedding dress with a neckline folded down at the back. The design allowed Eugenie to proudly show off the scar from her back surgery. “I had an operation when I was 12 on my back, and you’ll see on Friday [at the wedding], but it’s a lovely way to honor the people who looked after me and a way of standing up for young people who also go through this,” Eugenie said in an interview with ITV before the wedding. “I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it’s really special to stand up for that.”

Eugenie and Brooksbank will soon mark another major moment in their lives. The couple announced in September they are expecting their first child. They are expecting the baby in early 2021. Their baby will be the first grandchild for Andrew and the Duchess of York. “Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr. Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in early 2021,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, Mr. and Mrs. George Brooksbank, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news.”