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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    Kate Middleton Kept Her Cancer Diagnosis Secret for So Long Because She "Hadn't Told" George, Charlotte, and Louis Yet

    "It was awful, absolutely awful," a former royal aide explained.

    Amy Mackelden's avatar
    By Amy Mackelden
    Published 23 February 2025 In News

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    Kate Middleton has long, wavy brunette hair and wears a bright yellow dress with puffy sleeves
    (Image credit: Getty Images/Max Mumby/Indigo)
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    Jason Knauf—a former royal aide to Prince William and Kate Middleton—is opening up about his work with the Royal Family in a new interview. As well as sharing his thoughts on what Prince William will be like when he becomes king, Knauf addressed the difficult decisions the Prince and Princess of Wales made in the wake of Kate's cancer diagnosis.

    In early 2024, a plethora of Princess Kate conspiracy theories began running wild. Without an official announcement from Kensington Palace—which came later in March 2024—the general public started wondering what might have happened to the Princess of Wales. In a new interview with 60 Minutes Australia (via GB News), Knauf revealed why Kate and William waited to announce the difficult news.

    "They didn't want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn't told the children and they were still working through how to tell the children," Knauf explained.

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    Prince William wearing a blue coat smiling and looking at Kate Middleton, in a green coat and plaid scarf, standing with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis outside church

    "They were still working through how to tell the children."

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    The couple's former royal aide also discussed the Prince of Wales's reaction to the news. "It was awful, absolutely awful," Knauf told 60 Minutes Australia. "It's the lowest I've ever seen him."

    Knauf continued, "Within a couple of weeks, if you're Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn't believe it."

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    Princess Kate and Prince William holding hands with Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte, all wearing navy school uniforms, walking into school with trees behind them

    The Princess and Princess of Wales with their three children—Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    The former royal aide—who worked with William and Kate for 7 years—also addressed the strange theories that erupted on the internet due to the Princess of Wales's absence from public life. "The problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background online," Knauf noted.

    In the trailer for Knauf's exclusive interview, the former Royal Foundation CEO spoke about what Prince William will be like as a monarch. "Just what you see is what you get," he told the interviewer. The former royal employee also added that with "every generation, the Royal Family has to reinvent the role for the generation that they serve," which the Prince of Wales has already started doing.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    The ultimate daily digest for women of power, purpose, and style.

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    Explore More
    Princess Catherine Prince George Prince Louis Prince William Princess Charlotte
    Amy Mackelden
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    Weekend Editor

    Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.

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