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For Kate Middleton and Prince William, royal duties take a back seat to parenting their children, as shown by how William stepped back from his duties during the princess’ cancer treatments, according to a royal author.
“Behind the scenes, for William it was brutal,” Russell Myers, royal editor of The Mirror and author of “William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story” told the Manchester Evening News.
Myers said William felt like “the rug had been pulled from under him” after Middleton and his father, King Charles III, were both diagnosed with cancer early in 2024.
“He was having to manage all these emotions that, you know, what was he going to do to look after his wife first and foremost?” Myers said. “How would he be there for his father? But what duties was he going to have to take on? Was his public role going to change as well?”
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For Kate Middleton and Prince William, royal duties take a back seat to parenting their children, as evidenced by how William stepped back from his royal duties during the princess’ cancer treatments last year, according to a royal author. ( Jonathan Brady – Pool/Getty Images)
However, Myers said, “over all of this was his deep concern for his three children.”
“And I think by seeing him step away from public duties, it tells you a lot about William and Catherine as people, because it’s always been family first for them,” he said, adding that “duty is important to them, but it has to come second in respect to their family, because if they get the family right then everything will follow.”
In an excerpt of his book out in March, Myers wrote that the Prince and Princess of Wales sat their children down to explain to them what was happening.
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“‘When Catherine went in, he was fairly resolute,’ said a close aide,” the excerpt of the book read, referring to her two-week January 2024 hospitalization for what was described by the palace as a “planned abdominal surgery.” “‘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.’”
Prince William and Kate Middleton on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in June 2025. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Myers wrote that Middleton kept in touch with her family while at the hospital through video calls, “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,” he wrote. “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.”
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In March, the princess was contacted by her medical team at the London Clinic where she had her abdominal surgery and told they had discovered cancer was present.
“The advice was an immediate course of preventative chemotherapy in order to give her the best chance of a full recovery,” Myers wrote. “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.”
“The duty is important to them, but it has to come second in respect to their family because if they get the family right then everything will follow.”
Myers wrote that William later told friends he was in a “state of disbelief” when he heard about her diagnosis.
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“First his father had been diagnosed with cancer, and a month later his wife was now facing a similar challenge,” he wrote. “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.”
After telling their children, Middleton decided she needed to make a public statement about her cancer, believing her “experience could benefit others in similar distressing circumstances.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton during a trip to Scotland in January. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Middleton made her understated announcement while sitting on a bench surrounded by flowers on March 22, 2024.
“The message, recorded in complete secrecy by a BBC special events team, was broadcast on the 6pm national news and online,” Myers wrote. “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.”
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Despite a close friend describing William as feeling like he was “hit by a bus,” he did everything he could to keep life normal for their children: Prince George, 12; Princess Charlotte, 10; and Prince Louis, 7.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte wave during Trooping the Colour in June 2022. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)
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A friend told Myers that the royal couple were also “both very conscious of protecting” their children “as much as possible. Catherine’s admiration for the way in which William took on all of that, keeping the children entertained and occupied, being constantly sanguine even when he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, allowing her to concentrate on her treatment and recovery, is something she will be eternally grateful for.”
The 44-year-old announced in September 2024 that she had finished her cancer treatments and in January of last year she announced she was in remission.
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On Saturday, the couple marked Valentine’s Day by sharing a never-before-seen photo of the two of them.
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” William and Kate wrote on their Instagram page, revealing that the black and white snap was taken by photographer Josh Shinner, who also took their Christmas card photo.