King ‘toddled’ to Kate’s hospital bed for a heart-to-heart
The double cancer diagnosis for the King and the Princess of Wales has brought them closer. But not all ties among the senior royals have been mended – just look at how Harry and Meghan found out about Kate’s diagnosis.
Anyone walking the corridors of the London Clinic in January might have got the surprise of their life. A septuagenarian gentleman in a robe could be seen “toddling” from his hospital bed, where he was being treated for an enlarged prostate, to visit his daughter-in-law down the corridor, who had just had major abdominal surgery.
The gentleman was the King and the other patient, of course, was the Princess of Wales. The image is a touching one but also highly revealing about the way their double diagnosis of cancer following their respective surgeries has brought the most senior members of the royal family closer.
“There is a very strong relationship between their majesties and the Waleses. They are very close, even more so at the moment,” a senior royal source said.
A source close to Charles said: “The King has always had a close, warm and unique relationship with the Princess. She has a great love and respect for him and his position. When they were in hospital together there was a lot of toddling down the corridor to spend time with her. He has been encouraging and supporting her throughout.”
After her brave and moving address to the nation on Friday evening, the King’s spokesman said Charles was “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did”. Since their time together in hospital, near Harley Street, the King has “remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks”.
Both Charles and Camilla “will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time”. The two couples have also spent time together as a family at Windsor and at Sandringham. William and Kate’s country home Anmer Hall is on the Sandringham estate.
With both families fighting serious illness, some of the oldest tensions have fallen away. William and Camilla, whose relationship was strained for many years, have also become closer. The two have been in regular phone contact in recent weeks. Many royal watchers noted the genuine warmth and affection between the pair as they walked shoulder to shoulder at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey this month.
Not all relationships are as easy to heal, however. The tighter bond between the King’s family and his heir’s only highlights the wide gulf remaining between the Waleses and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, whose Californian exile seemed further away than ever on Friday.
It is understood that Kate’s cancer diagnosis was not shared in advance with Harry and Meghan, whose short statement soon after the announcement said: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.” A Kensington Palace spokesman would only say: “We do not comment on private conversations.”
However, several sources confirm that there were no such conversations and it is thought Harry found out about Kate’s diagnosis from television, at the same time as the public.
Harry flew to London in early February to see his father a day after he began treatment, but did not meet his brother during the trip. Earlier this month both brothers took part in an awards ceremony in London in honour of their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. William attended the awards at the Science Museum, with Harry appearing by video link long after his brother had gone.
In truth, Kate’s decision to go public in the way that she did flowed from her concerns, not about the royal family but about her relationship with the public.
“It allowed her to speak directly to the public who, overwhelmingly, have always been with her and her family and who don’t buy into the noise and gossip,” said a close friend. “It was all her, she wrote every word of it, it came together very quickly.”
Friends last week told The Sunday Times that William and Kate “planned to be more open and honest” about her condition: “They will want to be clear and more open, but they’ll do it when they feel ready. I would expect that to be her instinct and it will be her call. They’re not going to be rushed.”
But her candour in delivering a video message with so much detail about how she and William have processed the news and handled it with their children, Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, surprised even those closest to her. “I didn’t expect this,” said a close friend who Kate turned to for advice when she had decided to make the statement.
The timing was determined by Kate’s keenness to quell further speculation about her health and her marriage, since her cancer diagnosis meant she would not be returning to royal duties as quickly as expected. “What had shifted in the last few weeks was the sense that she felt: ‘I’m not going to have a normal return to work after Easter that everyone is expecting,’ and everyone was anticipating some kind of update around Easter.”
More profoundly, Kate felt a duty to share her condition with the public to offer hope and solidarity for others experiencing the same challenges and to reassure the world that she is “well and getting stronger every day”.
The friend said: “It wasn’t really about the drama of the last few weeks, though obviously that has been upsetting. She felt she had to do it because of who she is. It was more that she knows she is a public figure and has a wider leadership responsibility. She knew she had to share the news because of how it was going to affect her work and her short-term future role, and [it was about] what was the most compassionate way she could deliver the news, so that it would land with the public in the least shocking way.
“A written statement, she felt, would be too jarring. It was about people seeing her, and her reassuring people that she was positive about it. Knowing it was news that was going to shock people, she wanted to do it as compassionately as possible. When things are really tough, that gratitude to the public for their support is their mantra.”
There were two other motivations. “She also wants to be able to carry on with as active and normal a routine as possible and not have it become a huge issue when she goes to a farm shop near their home in Windsor, with people then suggesting that’s a PR move. Moving forwards, they will be very strict on enforcing their right to privacy.”
But the greatest concern and top priority was Kate and William’s three children: the couple wanted to avoid an announcement while they were still at school. Lambrook School broke up for the Easter holidays on Friday afternoon, at the same time the media were told by Kensington Palace of Kate’s imminent announcement. “George is ten now and can’t be shielded from any of this now,” a palace source said. “Once it’s at the school gate and in the school playground, he won’t be able to avoid it.” The children do not return for the summer term until April 17.
Some friends of Kate are also frustrated that she felt the need to be so frank, in part to quell the (often wildly inaccurate) rumours that have been swirling about her on social media. “Catherine’s message was so honest,” a friend said. “Isn’t it sad that she has to be so honest and share that because of all the nonsense that has been around? I feel like the whole world has been gossiping about her and there is so much bullshit out there about her and her family. It was almost desperate that she had to do it.”
The announcement also illuminates the dynamic between the Prince and Princess of Wales. While William was closely involved in Kate’s decision, it was one he dearly wished she had not felt compelled to make. “She did it with his full support and advice, he joined all the conversations around it,” a close friend said. “On every level he wishes she didn’t have to do it. But it was her decision, it wasn’t begrudged and he fully supported it.”
Some commentators questioned, on social media, why William wasn’t sitting with Kate when she made her shock announcement. “This was her as a strong woman sharing an innately strong message to the nation. She didn’t need anyone sitting next to her,” said a royal source. “He has been supporting her and the family in the background.”
Those close to William speak protectively of the prince, who lost his mother when he was only 15 and must now confront a situation where he and Kate have three small children of their own and where their mother’s health is part of the public discourse. “Undoubtedly what has happened to him in his life [with his mother] has led him into the protection mode he is in now,” said a friend. An aide said: “All he wants to do is protect his wife and children. The family just want to go away for Easter, spend time together, the five of them, close off from the world and move on.”
Finding sanctuary at Anmer Hall, the focus is on people and family, not the institution of the monarchy. “These are two human beings, it is not Apple or a corporate organisation. The princess had to share this at a time when she felt comfortable, her husband felt comfortable and when their three children did,” said an aide.
Yet William and Kate are acutely conscious of their public role as well. “Of course they feel the burden and weight of responsibility on their shoulders, because it is there,” said a close friend. “But hopefully this will be a positive thing for them because of the public reaction and support. That is the strength of the institution. This is a family with real human beings at its heart.”
Inevitably, there have been questions about the stability and future of the monarchy, which seemed secure when Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022 and now, some feel, is subject to the fragility of human health. Charles’s determination to slim down the number of working royals has put an even greater burden on William and Camilla.
Those close to the Windsors are keen to play down any wider constitutional significance. “People need to calm down, take a medium-term view here, batten down the hatches and realise that the princess is positive, the King is positive and they will work together to come through it. In a decade, the younger generation will be out doing their thing. This is still a family fulfilling its duties.”
Insiders are also keen to quash any suggestions that the King’s cancer treatment would see him permanently withdraw from public life. In fact, planning is already under way for Charles to start to “ramp things up” from early summer. The King is “hoping” to attend an Easter Day service at Windsor next Sunday. In the meantime Camilla will undertake three engagements this week. On Thursday, in what is her most high-profile public engagement on Charles’s behalf, the Queen will attend a service at Worcester Cathedral to mark Maundy Thursday, where she will distribute Maundy gifts to pensioners and people selected for their community service, a ceremony which dates back to 1210 in the reign of King John.
The couple will then take a short break for “private time” after Easter. Then, sources close to the King say that “we can expect to see a little bit more of both of them”. A royal source said: “The King’s doctors are optimistic, the patient is positive and the outlook is for a sunny summer. He hopes to attend Trooping the Colour in some form [in June] and you can expect to see a slight ramping up of his public-facing duties from the early summer, as the risk threshold [from large crowds] diminishes.”
William’s household is equally optimistic about the durability of the monarchy. “From the Prince of Wales’s perspective, he has looked to balance his private life supporting his family and his public life quite successfully for the last couple of months, and he will continue to do so,” said an aide. In that, he has the support of both his father and his wife, bonded tighter than ever by hospital heart-to-hearts and their determination to come overcome cancer.
The Sunday Times
