The Simple Reason Kate Middleton Filmed Her Cancer Announcement Video Alone — Report
Kate Middleton sat alone as she announced her cancer diagnosis to the world in a March 22 video clip. According to a report, the 42-year-old British royal wouldn’t have had it any other way. The Princess of Wales reportedly wanted to film the video alone as a “strong woman.” Ahead, why Kate didn’t “need” anyone beside her. Plus, why she preferred filming the announcement to a written statement.
Kate ‘didn’t need anyone sitting next to her’ in the video
Sure, Kate has had those closest to her to lean on ever since undergoing a “planned” abdominal surgery on Jan. 16, 2024. Her parents and siblings have reportedly helped out with Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. Meanwhile, Kate’s tight-knit group of friends have been there for support.
But, when it came to announcing her cancer diagnosis on March 22, 2024, Kate did it solo, which, per The Sunday Times, is what she wanted.
“This was her as a strong woman sharing an innately strong message to the nation. She didn’t need anyone sitting next to her,” a source said.
In a video clocking in at just over two minutes, Kate sat on a bench alone, explaining how she came to be diagnosed with cancer. She shared that tests following her January abdominal surgery “found cancer had been present.”
As a result, she’s now in the “early stages” of “preventative chemotherapy.” However, Kate didn’t reveal the type of cancer or the stage.
Calling it a “huge shock,” Kate went on to say it’s “taken time” not only for her to recover from surgery but “most importantly” 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.”
Kate concluded the video by asking for “time, space, and privacy” as she undergoes treatment and “focus[es] on making a full recovery.”
Kate had Prince William’s ‘full support’ to film her cancer announcement video alone
Prince William was in Kate’s corner — and perhaps even behind the scenes as she filmed the announcement. Kate, a close friend of the Prince of Wales’ said, filmed the video with her husband’s “full support and advice.”
Through it all, they said, William, 41, “has been supporting her and the family in the background.” However, that didn’t mean William was exactly happy about Kate filming the video.
“On every level, he wishes she didn’t have to do it,” the source went on. “But it was her decision; it wasn’t begrudged, and he fully supported it.”
William, who has taken a step back from most of his royal duties since Kate’s January 2024 surgery, has been in “protection mode” as a result of what he experienced in losing his late mother, Princess Diana, as a teen. “All he wants to do is protect his wife and children,” an aide said.
Kate wanted to release a video as opposed to a ‘jarring’ written statement
Elsewhere in the report, a source claimed Kate preferred video to a written statement from Kensington Palace. She wanted to share the news in a video to “reassure people,” they said.
“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,” they said. “Knowing it was news that was going to shock people, she wanted to do it as compassionately as possible.”
“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,” a friend of Kate’s told the outlet.
Kate, they added, wrote the speech: “It was all her, she wrote every word of it. It came together very quickly.”
