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Privacy NoticeFollowing his grandmother’s death, Prince William and his wife of 13 years, Kate, embraced their new roles as the Prince and Princess of Wales, taking on an increasing number of royal duties while also bringing up their three young children, George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six. But earlier this year William was dealt two devastating, very personal blows when first his father and then his beloved wife were diagnosed with cancer. The Princess of Wales bravely announced she had been undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of the disease in a video message on 22 March, saying it had taken her time “to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment”. She added that she was “getting stronger every day”. For William, whose mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was tragically killed in a car crash in 1997, aged just 36, the strain will have been considerable, not least because he’s also been required to step in for his father at various high-profile royal engagements.
Kate and William have been married for 13 years
(Image: Getty Images)
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“I don’t envy his role at the moment – he’s got a lot on his plate,” says Andrew Morton, author of The Queen: 1926-2022. “Catherine’s had a pretty tough time of it. Chemotherapy is not exactly the kind of thing you want to be doing when you’re 42 years old. “But William is handling it as well as you can do when you’ve got a wife who has been seriously ill and three children who need support and comfort. For anyone dealing with a long-term illness, especially in that kind of position, it’s very difficult.” Given the private hardship he must be going through, Andrew believes the Queen would be proud of the way in which William is handling things.
The Queen knew how difficult it was juggling her marriage and royal responsibilities
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“The Queen always used to say you’ve got to be seen to be believed, and that’s as true today as it was 50 years ago. So the show has to go on,” says the biographer.
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“William has undertaken as many official engagements as he can. But it requires a lot of maturity, common sense and empathy.” Like his grandmother before him, William is not given to public displays of emotion, and has been carrying out his royal duties in typically stoic fashion. Difficult as it must be to “keep calm and carry on” when, as Andrew puts it, he is being “father, nurse and Prince of Wales”, William has, from an early age, received unparalleled guidance. As a teenager, he forged a strong bond with his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, who regularly shared her expertise and gave him a good grounding in the job that lay ahead. “He used to see her every weekend when he was a pupil at Eton,” says Andrew. “They used to chat about his future duties and she prepared him in a very careful way. William owes the Queen an awful lot, as do they all.”
The pair have had a difficult year
(Image: WireImage)
But Her Majesty was careful not to pile too much responsibility onto her grandson’s young shoulders. Having been thrust into the position of monarch at just 25, following the sudden death of her father, King George VI, she was all too aware how precious the future King’s younger years might be. “The Queen remembered her own early days in her marriage, when she had her happiest time in Malta,” says Andrew, referring to the two relatively relaxed, carefree years the then-Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, spent on the island while he was stationed there as a naval officer from 1949-51. “So she was very mindful of the fact that these young couples shouldn’t have to harness themselves to doing endless royal duties. They can spend a bit of time getting to know one another and enjoy a normal life – and William and Kate for the first couple of years managed that.” While it was obvious that the Queen thought highly of William, the feeling was very much mutual.
Kate and William announced their engagement back in November 2010
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Speaking on the eve of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, the then-Duke of Cambridge was quick to praise his grandmother, describing her as “an incredible role model”. And although Andrew believes that both William and his brother, Prince Harry “really appreciated their grandmother’s words of wisdom”, he says there’s no doubt she was aware that one brother was perhaps better suited for a life of royal duty than the other. “The Queen was great in terms of character, whether it be horses or people. She’ll have seen in William that he was someone who was prepared to sacrifice elements of his own privacy and life to be an active member of the royal family – which he’s become,” he says. “The Queen also knew that Harry was not as willing to put his nose to the grindstone as his brother. She would have seen that first hand.
The Queen adored both her grandchildren and her great grandchildren
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
“He was getting himself into all kinds of scrapes as a youngster and he found life after his mother’s death very difficult indeed, as he articulates in his book. People have been very watchful of Harry’s development over the years, none more so than the Queen.” Without his grandmother – once described by Sarah, Duchess of York, as “the best granny in the world” – to offer guidance, and with his father and wife recovering from serious illness, you can’t help wondering who William has to turn to in his hour of need. “In the old days it would have been Harry, so it’s difficult to know who,” says Andrew. “Certainly he needs all the support he can get – as would any father who’s trying to bring up three boisterous kids with a wife who’s ill.” In his heartfelt speech following the King’s coronation concert at Windsor Castle in 2023, William said of his grandmother, “I know she’s up there, fondly keeping an eye on us.” No doubt she will be looking on proudly as William continues her legacy, ever mindful of the precious advice she once gave.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnKate MiddletonPrincePrince HarryPrince PhilipPrince WilliamThe Queen
