Prince William has previously described 2024 as a “brutal” year for his wife Kate and their children and it is not hard to see why following her cancer diagnosis.
Within weeks, both his wife, Princess Kate, and his father, King Charles, were facing cancer diagnoses that would change everything behind palace doors.
In February that year, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the king had been diagnosed with cancer. Just weeks later, in March, the Princess of Wales shared her own cancer diagnosis in a deeply personal video message.
Both stepped back from royal duties to focus on treatment. In January 2025, Kate revealed she was in remission. While King Charles’ treatment is ongoing, it has been reduced this year.
Prince William’s ‘reaction’ to Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis
Now, a new book is shedding fresh light on how deeply the news affected William at the time.
The Mirror’s royal editor, Russell Myers, is releasing a biography later this month centred on the Prince and Princess of Wales. In an extract serialised in the Mirror, Myers revisits the health crisis that rocked the family two years ago.
Before publicly announcing her diagnosis, Kate had undergone abdominal surgery in January 2024. As she recovered in hospital, she and William made the difficult decision to speak to their three children about what was happening.
According to Myers, they 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”.
Princess Catherine ‘remained composed’ despite shock
Tests following the surgery revealed that cancer had been present. In her video message to the nation, Kate explained she had been advised to begin a “course of preventive chemotherapy”.
Friends quoted in the book say that although she was caught “completely in shock, she remained composed”. Her “first thoughts”, it claims, were for her children and her husband.
William, meanwhile, was said to be in a “state of disbelief” as he tried to process the news.
‘It was as if the ground beneath him vanished’
A senior courtier recalls that the days leading up to the public announcement were “filled with shock”.
“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,” the courtier is quoted as saying.
A friend adds of William’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.”
Representatives for Kensington Palace have been contacted for comment.
Read more: Prince William’s ‘romantic gesture’ to Kate Middleton for Valentine’s Day ‘revealed’
Myers’ book William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story will be published on February 26.
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