Ex-Aide Breaks Silence on Prince William's Private Struggle

Kate and William, Canada Day, 2011, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.. Photo by tsaiproject under CC BY 2.0.

A former royal aide is looking back on the "awful" time when Prince William, 42, found out about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis, just shortly after his father, King Charles, was also diagnosed, according to PEOPLE.

'Couldn't Believe It'

Jason Knauf, who worked as an aide for the Prince and Princess of Wales until 2021, appeared on "60 Minutes Australia" on Feb. 23. He recalled how Prince William felt after hearing about both diagnoses "within a couple weeks," according to PEOPLE.

"If you're Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer," Knauf said in the "60 Minutes" episode. "And that is — I mean, I couldn't believe it." Both King Charles and the Princess of Wales received treatment for cancer last year. Kate is now in remission, while Charles is still receiving ongoing treatment.

2 Shocking Diagnoses

Princess Kate, 43, first revealed she was receiving cancer treatment in March 2024. A few months later, in September, she shared that she had finished chemotherapy. In January 2025, Kate announced she was in "remission and focused on recovery," as reported by PEOPLE. King Charles' cancer diagnosis was made public in February 2024, one month before the Princess of Wales shared her own diagnosis. Catherine's cancer diagnosis was made public in March of last year, and Knauf said, "The problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background, online. 'Was she really ill?' But 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 told "60 Minutes."

'The Hardest Year'

Speaking to reporters at the end of his visit to South Africa last year, Prince William, 42, talked about how he has been coping after both his wife and father were diagnosed with cancer. He called the past year the "hardest year" of his life. "It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult," William said, as reported to the BBC.

When talking about the phone call between Knauf and Prince William about his wife's diagnosis, Knauf described the conversation to "60 Minutes Australia." "Absolutely awful. It's the lowest I've ever seen him," Knauf said, as reported by PEOPLE.

In his interview on "60 Minutes Australia," Knauf opened up about this difficult time and the emotional toll both cancer diagnoses took on Prince William and the family, especially dealing with the stress of public attention while trying to support loved ones. Knauf's reflections gave insight into how challenging this period has been for the royal family and how they have been coping with these tough situations.

References: Prince William's Former Aide Reveals Devastating Phone Call After Kate Middleton and King Charles' Cancer Diagnoses | William at His Lowest After Kate's Diagnosis, Says Ex-Aide | Prince William's Closest Aide Breaks His Silence | It's Been the Hardest Year of My Life, Says William