The Gist
In early 2024, following major abdominal surgery in January, Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer.
It was a turning point moment for the Prince and Princess of Wales, with royal biographer Katie Nicholl calling it an experience that "can make or break a couple."
William and Kate's "marriage is stronger than ever," fellow royal biographer Hugo Vickers said of their relationship in the aftermath of Kate's diagnosis.
It seems like a lifetime ago and yesterday all at once—on February 27, 2024,Prince Williamwas scheduled to attend a memorial service for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, but pulled out of attending at the last minute, citing a "family matter."
This might have raised a couple of eyebrows in a different situation, but William and his wifeKate Middletonwere in a moment like they'd never been through before. In mid-January, the Princess of Wales had undergone major abdominal surgery and hadn't been seen or heard from since. The Prince of Wales suddenly declining to attend the memorial service was a flashpoint—the beginning of endless conspiracy theories regarding the future queen specifically. It was a dark moment for the couple in the public eye—but what the public didn't realize at the time was that the news was grim on the home front, too.
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"We later discovered from Kensington Palace that Catherine got her cancer diagnosis that day," royal biographer Hugo Vickers toldThe Mirrorof the aforementioned February 27. "Earlier generations of the royal family might well have fulfilled their duty and said, 'Look, I'm really sorry, he was my godfather and I've got to go and read the lesson. It'll take an hour and a half, and then I'll be back.' But William didn't do that. He stayed, and full marks go to him. He was right, and I think their marriage is stronger than ever."
Fellow royal biographer Katie Nicholl agreed, saying that "William and Kate look more united today than ever. They are a proper partnership, and theirs is a marriage based on friendship, love, and mutual respect. They've been to hell and back in the past year or two, but they look very, very strong together and they are clearly very in love."
"It's been challenging," Nicholl added. "They have stuck together through awful times and have become even more tight-knit. Going through cancer can make or break a couple, but we've heard William speak so movingly and openly about his love for his wife and his admiration for everything she's been through and navigated. He's spoken very candidly about 2024 being the toughest year of his life. He didn't know if he was going to lose his wife and the mother of his children, and that is an awful place to be."
Whereas the Prince and Princess of Wales have been "quite shy and reserved by nature and in the past, they haven't made many public displays of affection," Nicholl said, that all changed through Kate's cancer journey. "But I think there's been a willingness to show the world what they've been through, in a way that they're comfortable with. They've been together for so many years, and you can really see that in the way they are with one another. You can really see William's love and respect and his devotion to his wife. I think they've emerged a lot stronger and even more together."
That closeness was on full display in the video Kate released in September 2024 to celebrate the end of her chemotherapy treatment. Nicholl said it "gave us a real insight to them as a couple," adding, "For a couple that have always been so private, it was unusual."
"You could see the love between them, and you could see how romantic they are together from the way William put his hands through her hair," she continued. "They were just clearly so comfortable and happy in each other's company—there was a real sense of love and friendship. It gave us a very special insight into a very special relationship."
On January 14, 2025—nearly one year ago exactly—the Princess of Wales announced she is in remission from cancer, and, as William told Eugene Levy of Kate in an October episode of Apple TV+'sThe Reluctant Traveler, "Yes, things are good. Everything is progressing in the right way, which is all good news."
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