Friends have shared how ‘everything changed’ in an instant for the Prince and Princess of Wales
Prince William’s heartbreak and battle behind closed doors over his wife’s cancer diagnosis has been uncovered for the first time, with friends sharing how “everything changed” in an instant for the couple.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, is now in remission after being diagnosed with cancer in 2024. The diagnosis came after she was admitted to the London Clinic for major abdominal surgery. After the operation, she spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and was recuperating at home when she received the diagnosis of cancer and began chemotherapy.
After stepping away from royal duties to undergo treatment and recuperate, Kate has more recently been carrying out more regular engagements after slowly easing back into her public royal duties over the past year and a half.
It’s now been revealed how both William and Kate tackled the unexpected card they had been dealt, which came as an added blow following King Charles’ cancer diagnosis.
In a new book, William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, which is being serialised by the Mirror, the publication’s Royal Editor Russell Myers writes: “While the start of the year usually represents a gentle beginning to the royal calendar, 2024 was about to change all that.
“William was left in an extraordinary position. Suddenly, with three children to care for at home and no live-in staff at their Adelaide Cottage home, and with his wife and father in hospital, his future was looking decidedly different. When the Princess of Wales entered hospital on 16 January, and was then ghosted out two weeks later to disappear completely from public view for potentially months on end, it created an incredible vacuum of information.
“When Catherine went in, he was fairly resolute,’ said a close aide. ‘They both very calmly told the children what was going on and how long Catherine would need to be away for, but explained other than that everything would continue as normal and when she came home, she would need to rest up for a bit.’”
Russell continues: “Catherine was able to keep in touch with her family through video calls from her bedside, catching up on what George, Charlotte and Louis had been doing at school and asking if ‘Papa’ had been able to cook for them while she had been away.
“At that time it seemed to all be perfectly in hand, they were the calmness in the storm certainly. But away from the children he was of course incredibly pensive. His father’s illness brought into focus just how quickly his life, and that of his family as well as the whole landscape of the institution, could change very quickly.”
The book continues to detail the moment Kate, with William by her side, was given the news, and her decision to share her diagnosis publicly. “Two weeks before that moment on a warm spring afternoon in March when she had sat down to pose for a photograph with her family, Catherine had been contacted by her medical team at the London Clinic,” Russell writes.
“With William by her side, the Princess of Wales, who had previously been in for a major, yet routine abdominal operation, was told that secondary tests had shown cancer was present. The advice was an immediate course of preventative chemotherapy in order to give her the best chance of a full recovery.
“Friends of Catherine say that although she was caught completely in shock, she remained composed. Her first thoughts were of her children and her husband. William, according to friends, later told how he was in ‘a state of disbelief’. First his father had been diagnosed with cancer, and a month later his wife was now facing a similar challenge. Catherine called her parents and her siblings to tell them, then she and William resolved to gather the children and impart what they knew in the best and most positive way possible.”
Russell says that Catherine had already decided to release a personal statement after seeing the “positivity and warmth that had greeted the King when he had been so open about his own diagnosis”.
He continues: “More than that, though, the princess believed that her experience could benefit others in similar distressing circumstances. Catherine’s family rallied round, with her sister Pippa helping to write the script for the short video statement.
“Dressed in a simple striped jumper and jeans, sitting on a wooden bench and surrounded by a serene spring backdrop of daffodils – a world away from the disgraceful chaos peddled by faceless social media trolls – Catherine calmly described how the diagnosis had come as a ‘huge shock’ on top of an’incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family’.
“The message, recorded in complete secrecy by a BBC special events team, was broadcast on the 6pm national news and online. Much like the announcement of the death of Elizabeth II, it felt like an earthquake whose reverberations were felt around the world. ‘The days beforehand were filled with shock, but at that moment, it was genuinely as if the world stood still’, said a senior courtier.
“‘Everyone knew it was a huge moment. It was incredibly emotional. But to know both she and William had had to prepare themselves to tell their three young children that Mummy was ill and would have to go back to hospital, but that she would be OK, was just extraordinary’.”
A close friend also spoke of the prince’s reaction. “It was like being hit by a bus, sudden, brutal, and completely disorienting. One moment life was normal, and the next, everything changed. He worships her, truly. She’s his world, and when the diagnosis came, it was as if the ground beneath him vanished.
“He talked about the rug being pulled, but it was more than that, it was heartbreak, fear and helplessness all at once. Watching him go through it was deeply emotional. You could see it in his eyes; in the way he held himself. But through it all, his devotion to her never wavered. He’s been by her side every step, and the depth of his devotion is something that stays with you. It’s love in its rawest, most powerful form.”
Discussing how William tackled his wife’s ill health, Russell writes: “The Prince of Wales took charge of the school drop-offs, while Catherine’s parents and siblings were regular visitors to the family home in Windsor. Quiet evening dinners were enjoyed at home, playdates were organised to keep the children entertained and there were weekends away at the Middletons’ family home in Berkshire – all part of enveloping George, Charlotte and Louis with as much love and support as possible. While the children benefited from having their mum at home all the time, the road of treatment and recovery was not simple.
“Once the initial shock of her diagnosis had passed, the schedule of regular hospital appointments and the time needed to recuperate and regain enough strength to start each week, both physically and mentally, took its toll. ‘Throughout everything thrown at her, she was incredibly upbeat’, a friend said.”
William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, published on 26 February by Ebury, Penguin Random House, is available to pre-order now
