Prince William has opened up about how Kate and King Charles’ cancer diagnosis affected the royal family. The Prince revealed how the impact of the diagnosis was felt by the whole family. The father of three opened up about the heartbreaking reality of the past year that his family had to endure in a new interview.
The past year has been an undoubtedly difficult year for the royal family. The King and Kate both spend most of the year away from the public eye to recover. The Buckingham Palace shared the news of Charles’s cancer diagnosis with the world in February 2024.
The type of cancer remains undisclosed to date. The King’s medical team detected the cancer after the King underwent a prostate exam. A month later, Kate broke the news of her cancer diagnosis.
The Princess of Wales had also revealed that she had undergone a major abdominal surgery. Both the royals took time off from their official duties and spent the majority of the year recovering from their illness.
Prince William opened up for the first time since the whole ordeal to talk about just how difficult it was for his family. The Prince shared that it was admitted “having the rug pulled from underneath you” in a conversation with actor Eugene Levy.
While appearing on an episode of The Reluctant Traveller series that the actor hosts, William shared how the events of the year had taken him to “not great places.” The royal went on to note that his family had been “lucky” until now, with no members facing many illnesses for a very long time.
He pointed out how both his grandparents lived until their high 90s. “So, they were the vision of fitness, and stoicism, and resilience if you like,” William added. The father of three notes how, after his wife and father’s diagnosis, he realised that the “metaphorical” can be pulled from under you at any point.
“You maybe think to yourself, ‘It won’t happen to us, we’ll be okay,'” the Prince shared. Kate Middleton herself also opened up about how difficult her battle with cancer has been. “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment, treatment’s done,” she revealed in an interview with Today.
The Princess went on to note how people often think they can go back to normal as soon as that is done, which is a misconception. “But actually the phase afterwards is really difficult,” the mother of three shared. She spoke about how people who are in remission often find it difficult to “function normally at home.”
