Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Former royal aide Jason Knauf opened up about how Princess Kate Middleton’s health struggles affected Prince William.
In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, which aired on Sunday, February 23, the couple’s former senior adviser recalled finding out about Kate’s cancer diagnosis from William, 42, in 2024.
“Within a couple of weeks, if you’re Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. And that is … I mean, I couldn’t believe it,” Knauf said.
Knauf said it was “awful” hearing the news of Kate’s diagnosis in a personal phone call with William.
“It was awful. Absolutely awful. It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen him. But the problem was that all this crazy sort of conspiracy theories kicked off in the background online,” Knauf said.
“Was she really ill? But they didn’t want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn’t told the children and they were still working out how to tell the children,” Knauf added, referencing William and Kate’s three children — Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
Knauf was the communication secretary to William and Kate, 43, as well as to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, from February 2015 to March 2019.
He then served as a senior adviser to William and Kate before becoming the CEO of the couple’s Royal Foundation from September 2019 until January 2022.
Jason Knauf Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Knauf’s comments echoed those made by royal experts in Us Weekly’s January cover story on the princess’ return to work.
Robert Hardman, a royal biographer, told Us: “Family was one of the reasons she didn’t announce her illness until relatively late in the day. It was the last day of school term, and they were keeping things normal for the children.”
“The priority was not her public image; the priority was her family,” Hardman added.
As for William, the prince told reporters in Cape Town, South Africa, in November that 2024 had “probably been the hardest year in my life.”
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult,” he said.
Kate announced her cancer was in remission on January 14.
“It is a relief to now be in remission,” she shared in a statement to social media. “And I remain focussed on recovery. As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal.”
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