Prince William ‘leaning on unlikely ally’ amid Kate Middleton cancer treatment, expert claims
Prince William has had an ‘unlikely ally’ that he has been able to lean on, a royal expert has claimed, as his wife Kate undergoes a course of preventative chemotherapy

The last few months have been some of the most challenging that Prince William and the rest of the Royal Family have had to deal with in recent years, but amid all of the difficulties, an expert has claimed that the Prince of Wales has been able to lean on someone who might seem an “unlikely ally”.

After Princess Kate underwent abdominal surgery in January she remained out of the public eye as she recovered – and for weeks, there was intense speculation online about the status of her health, but little did the public know that behind closed doors she had been diagnosed with cancer and was advised to start a course of preventative chemotherapy.

Whilst William and Kate were dealing with how to tell their children this devastating news, the Prince of Wales also had to manage the significant challenge of his father King Charles’s cancer diagnosis.

When the monarch began his regular treatment, he was advised by his medical team to step back from “public facing duties”, which left the royals seriously short-staffed for a time. However, in a major boost to the royals, Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles’s progress has been “sufficiently pleased” with his progress, and has given him the okay to return to some public duties.

Throughout all this stress, there’s only been one person that Prince William could really lean on, an expert has explained, but it isn’t who you might expect.

The Prince of Wales has been leaning heavily on his stepmother, Queen Camilla, the expert claimed, even though in the early years of their relationship, they were not as close as they are now.

Jennie Bond, speaking to OK Magazine explained, “Recent events have obviously brought William and Camilla much closer. They have been left, almost literally, nursing the Crown while the King and the Princess recover. Their teams will be working more closely to coordinate diaries and cover the engagements that has been planned, and Camilla and William are bound to have been in much closer regular contact.”

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But it isn’t just when it comes to their official royal work that William may have found support from his stepmother, the expert – who worked for 14 years as the BBC’s royal correspondent – claimed.

“Apart from the business side of things, I’m sure they will have been an emotional help to one another as well. Both will have been so worried about these unexpected health issues and I imagine they will have shared their concerns.

“As an adolescent, William took his time to accept Camilla as ‘the other woman’ in his father’s life. His feelings towards her were complicated, having witnessed his mother’s unhappiness in marriage. But maturity brought with it the realisation that Camilla makes his father extremely happy… and the Prince knows now that she is the love of his life.”

The Queen and William led the rest of the Royal Family at the annual Commonwealth Day Service when King Charles and Kate were both unable to attend. However, after the successful attendance of the monarch at the Easter Sunday service in Windsor, he will be conducting more engagements going forward – although engagements “remain subject to doctors’ advice” and may be adapted as Charles continues his treatment.

A version of this article was published on 15 March 2024.

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