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Prince William learned of Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis shortly before he was supposed to attend his godfather’s memorial service last month.
Page Six is told the Prince of Wales was a no-show at the event honoring the late King Constantine II of Greece after the Princess of Wales received the shocking news of her condition.
At the time, sources confirmed that William did not attend over “personal reasons” — though his absence raised alarm bells amid swirling conspiracy theories about his wife’s health and whereabouts.
Prince William bailed on his godfather’s memorial service last month after finding out about Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis. James Veysey/Shutterstock He was a last-minute no-show to the memorial for the late King Constantine II of Greece last month due to “personal reasons.” Oli Scarff/Pool/ShutterstockMiddleton had been staying out of the spotlight since undergoing a planned abdominal surgery in January and was last seen attending a royal event in December for the Christmas Church service.
Reps for the princess confirmed that she was “doing well” as concerns heightened; however, worries worsened when she shared a heavily doctored photo of herself and her kids on Instagram for British Mother’s Day.
She subsequently released an apology after several photo agencies issued a “kill notice” on the image.
The Prince of Wales’ absence further fueled rumors surrounding Middleton’s health. Getty Images The Princess of Wales had been staying out of the spotlight after undergoing abdominal surgery in January. Getty ImagesMiddleton emerged for the first time in public when she and William went shopping at a Windsor farmer’s market this weekend. Palace sources were hopeful that the sighting would put an end to the gossip surrounding her health, but netizens were still convinced that something was off.
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Listen to our weekly “We Hear” podcast Shop our exclusive merchIt wasn’t until Friday that Middleton announced that she received test results from her mysterious procedure that revealed she had cancer present in her body.
Middleton announced on Friday that she was diagnosed with cancer. BBC Studios She caused a stir after posting a doctored image with her kids for Mother’s Day. The Prince of Wales/InstagramWant more celebrity and pop culture news?
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“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” Middleton said in her statement. “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales decided to wait to announce her diagnosis until after their three young children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — were ready to handle it.
“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in
order to start my treatment,” Middleton continued.
“But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them
that I am going to be ok.”
Middleton, who did not disclose the type of cancer she has, also said that William has been her constant support during her struggle and called him “a great source of comfort.”
Her shocking cancer diagnosis comes one month after King Charles III revealed his own battle with cancer.