Princess Kate is coping with the news of her cancer diagnosis “better than people will realise”, according to a former royal adviser.
Paddy Harverson, who worked as the communications secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry for nine years, said the Prince and Princess of Wales are both “very strong” people.
Asked how the couple will be coping with the news, he told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think actually better than people realise. They are very strong, both as a couple and individually.”
Mr Harverson added: “She always had this great strength and she didn’t want to make a fuss about it when she felt that she needed help. So I’m confident that them as a couple and individually they will get through this.”
Victoria Newton, the editor of the Sun, also told the programme that Kate had made the decision to make the announcement “two weeks ago” – before the frantic speculation about her health proliferated online.
The former royal advisor said he doesn’t believe the speculation on social media – which he described as “the worst I’ve ever seen it” and the backlash over the edited Mother’s Day photo will have had any impact on the timing of the announcement.
“If we hadn’t had all the madness on social media, the Mother’s Day photo madness, they would have still done it like this,” Mr Harverson said. “They would have still waited until when the schools were breaking up to make this announcement.”
He added that the speculation on social media is “the worst I’ve ever seen it”, adding: “It feeds off itself it is sort of a permanent doom loop. It is the worst I’ve ever seen – and I’ve been in the media all my career.”
On Friday, Kate bravely told the world that weeks after her major abdominal surgery post-operative tests had found cancer.
In a two-minute-long video filmed from Windsor on Wednesday, Kate said: “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 … I am well and getting stronger every day.”
It is understood that the decision to release the video on Friday evening was made to coincide with the Easter holidays. As their three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, broke up from school on Friday.
They will have just under a month away from the classroom. Prince William will also take a break from royal duties while the children are off, and will resume official responsibilities from Wednesday, April 17.
Kate meanwhile will not be undertaking duties while she receives preventative chemotherapy. Aides have not given any indication on what form of cancer she has or how long the treatment course will last.
With King Charles also postponing public-facing duties while he undergoes cancer treatment himself, very few working royals are left to pick up engagements.
Queen Camilla will continue to hold the fort, with help from Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and other lesser-known working royals such as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
But Mr Harverson denied that the institution was “fragile” due to the smaller number of working royals.
He said: “We just have to come to terms with the new reality, there’s fewer of them.
“And so everyone just needs to sort of understand that they will still be busy, they will get over this. I am highly confident that the King, who I know well, is incredibly strong, very resilient, a great spiritual person, so I know he’ll get through it.
“And likewise with the princess, with Kate, I think once they’re through this sticky patch, I think we’ll get back to normal.
“I think the nation just needs to adjust, and the media, and everyone who follows this, to a smaller family but still very busy doing what they do in their own way.”
