Prince William Was ‘Crestfallen’ After Hearing About Kate Middleton’s Cancer News, Royal Author Says

Prince William was “completely crestfallen” upon hearing about Princess Kate Middleton ’s cancer diagnosis so soon after King Charles III ’s illness.

“It was devastating for him,” royal author Robert Jobson told Us Weekly exclusively of William, 42, while promoting his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales , which was released earlier this month.

Jobson imagined that William immediately felt “a lump in [his] throat” or “the empty feeling in his stomach” when his wife’s diagnosis was revealed. “It wobbled him,” the author continued. “There's no doubt about that.”

On the other hand, Kate, 42, stayed “very stoic” — as was Charles, 75 — about their health scares. Jobson said both William’s father and wife said: “We need you now to stand up to the plate.”

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The writer noted that both William and Queen Camilla have taken on this newfound role within the royal family as the health crisis continues.

Charles’ cancer diagnosis was publicly revealed in a February statement from Buckingham Palace after he underwent a routine prostate procedure. Meanwhile, Kate had a planned abdominal surgery earlier this year and stayed mainly out of the public eye amid her recovery. In a video statement released on March 22, Kate told the world she started to undergo treatment for cancer .

With two public facing royals out of commission, William was looked upon to take on a lot of their work.

“[Kate] has been good in making sure that that happens,” Jobson told Us . “She's shown him that she's there for him as well as him there for her.”

While Kate has stayed mainly out of the public eye as her health battle continues, the Princess of Wales has made two major appearances this year at the Trooping the Colour in June and Wimbledon in July . In June, she told royal watchers that she has “a few more months” of treatment on the horizon.

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There is no timeframe for Kate’s projected return to public duty just yet. Her team is “reevaluating what she’s going to be able to take on when she comes back,” a source told Us in June. “She may never come back in the role that people saw her in before.”

Jobson also told Hello! magazine earlier this month that Kate has been staying “very calm” through her health journey.

“She’s a person who wants to find solutions and rise above the noise and the drama, and I think, given what she’s gone through, you don’t want to waste any time on noise, on drama, when you’ve had anything to do with your health,” he added. “You live day by day; you do the things you want to do.”