Heartbreaking new 'details' on Prince William's 'reaction' to wife Kate Middleton's 'brutal' cancer diagnosis laid bare
The Princess of Wales was diagnosed with cancer in 2024Prince William previously admitted that 2024 had been a “brutal” year as both his wife, Princess Kate, and his father, King Charles, battled cancer.
In February of that year, Buckingham Palace announced that the king had been diagnosed with cancer.
Just weeks later, in the March, the Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis in a personal video message.
Both the king and Princess Catherine took a step back from duties to undergo treatment. In January 2025, Kate announced she was in remission.
While King Charles’ treatment continues, it has been reduced this year.
Prince William’s ‘reaction’ to Kate Middleton’s cancer
Now, according to a new book, some details about William’s sad reaction to the double cancer diagnoses have emerged.
The Mirror’s royal editor, Russell Myers, has a new biography coming out later this month, focusing on the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In an extract from the book, serialised in the Mirror this week, Myers opens up about the health ordeals that hit the royal family two years ago.
Before Kate announced her cancer diagnosis, she had undergone abdominal surgery in January 2024.
According to Myers, as Kate recovered from the surgery in hospital, she and William told their three 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’ amid diagnosis
But tests following Kate’s abdominal surgery had found that cancer had been present. Therefore, Kate explained in her video message to the world that she was advised to undergo a “course of preventive chemotherapy”.
According to Myers, friends of Catherine say that although she was caught “completely in shock, she remained composed”.
It was like being hit by a bus, sudden, brutal, and completely disorienting.
The book claims that her “first thoughts” were of her children and her husband.
Meanwhile, according to friends, the Prince of Wales was in a “state of disbelief” over the health news.
The book also shares details of Kate’s decision to announce her diagnosis in a personal video message.
‘It was as if the ground beneath him vanished’
A senior courtier tells Myers that the days beforehand were “filled with shock”.
They add, according to the book: “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.”
Of William’s reaction, a friend reportedly adds: “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.”
Royal Insider has contacted reps for Kensington Palace for comment.
Read more: How King Charles ‘put William in his place’ over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal
Myers’ book William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story will be published on February 26.
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