It was definitely a choice for People Magazine to choose this week to put Prince William’s “private struggle” on their cover. This week, with Prince Harry’s visit to the UK. This week, after months of speculation about the Princess of Wales’s health. It’s been really weird and unsettling to watch the commentary around William too, especially in comparison to the commentary around Kate. Kate is the one going through chemotherapy, right? Kate is the one who had some kind of major abdominal surgery, right? Kate is the one who hasn’t been credibly seen in nearly five months. Where is the “Kate’s Private Struggle” cover story? Why is William being centered here?
With Kate Middleton and King Charles both undergoing cancer treatment, Prince William must balance family matters with an elevated leadership role within the monarchy.
“Whether you’re a prince or a pauper, no one would expect anything like this with his father and his wife both being treated for cancer,” a royal insider tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “William is digging deep.”
The Prince of Wales, 41, has resumed public duties after taking time off to spend time with his wife and their three children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 — immediately following the news of her cancer diagnosis, publicly announced on March 22. However, his primary focus remains steadfastly on supporting Princess Kate, 42.
“For William, everything hinges on Kate’s well-being,” says royal biographer Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I.
Throughout their 13-year marriage, the Prince and Princess of Wales have prioritized private time with George, Charlotte and Louis, routinely clearing their public schedules during school breaks and taking part in school drop-offs and pick-ups rather than always leaving the task to a nanny. Now, their family-first manta is more important than ever.
“William is prioritizing giving her all the time she needs to get better and the support, particularly to the children,” says a close source.
Adds longtime royal biographer Robert Lacey, “From what we know of their personal lives, for William and Kate, spending time with their children is the most precious and enjoyable thing they can do.”
“The double illness has placed enormous pressure on William, both as a parent and inheritor of the family business,” says Lacey. “It has brought all kinds of challenges. He [has handled] it with calmness and lack of drama.”
As I keep saying, the Revisionist History machinery has been working overtime in recent weeks. They’re really trying to rewrite so much of what has happened this year. “He has handled it with calmness and lack of drama”...? Et tu, Robert Lacey? Is the “lack of drama” in the room with us now? Because the clownshow on display for months has been remarkable. The bizarre sightings of Fake Kate, the lies, the sketchy timeline, the multiple fiascos over palace-issued photos, the palace blaming a woman with cancer for the manipulated Mother’s Day photo, William’s day-drinking at events, and on and on. William’s unsteadiness and clown drama is what has made this whole story so bizarre and so newsworthy. William’s actions are what turned “where is Kate” into a global story. And as I said, the way everyone keeps centering William in these stories is no bueno. It’s creepy, actually.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red & Cover Images, cover courtesy of People.
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- The Prince of Wales meets EE Rising Stars Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna Bruce after the Bafta Film Awards 2024, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.,Image: 848094485, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jordan Pettitt / Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales and Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney share a drink during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales pours a pint with Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales (third right) watches as toiletries are packed during a visit to Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, at the charity’s headquarters based in Sunbury Cricket Club, in Surrey, to see how surplus food from across the local area is delivered, sorted and re-packaged for delivery to small community organisations Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Surrey, United Kingdom When: 18 Apr 2024 Credit: Alastair Grant/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince William visits St. Michael’s Church of England High School in Sandwell to learn about the award-winning student-led initiatives available to pupils to support their mental health and wellbeing. The Prince was initially invited to visit the school in a letter posted on X by twelve-year-old Freddie Hadley last October. Whilst unable to visit at the time, His Royal Highness responded to the letter with a message on X on World Mental Health Day, commending Freddie and St. Michael’s School on their work to tackle mental health challenges faced by pupils. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Sandwell, United Kingdom When: 25 Apr 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales speaks with students of the Matrix Project, during a visit to St Michael’s Church of England High School in Sandwell, West Midlands, to learn about the award-winning student-led initiatives available to pupils to support their mental health and wellbeing Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Sandwell, United Kingdom When: 25 Apr 2024 Credit: Oli Scarff/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I’m sure there are many in the UK with the same struggles involving ill family members and having to juggle time spent with children. The difference is those people have to keep working to support those family members. How does this not infuriate those who are struggling and helping to pay so that PW can spend all this time with family instead of working?
And why does Kate NEED “all the time in the world” to get better? I thought the chemo was only “preventative”? Why is a person getting only preventative chemo unable to work for months and months with no end in sight? Charles is already back at work.
Preventative chemo is usually very strong, because, as an oncologist told me, We get only one chance to cure you.
Sure, William is the “born royal,” Kate is just the married-in. This is all preparing William for his god-annointed coronation as king.
William says he is not religious so how can he ever be ‘god’s anointed?
Hahaha! This. If you think this further, he shouldn’t even be a monarch, if he doesn’t truly believe he is ‘anointed by god’. What is normal Bill doing there? Time to end all of this, isn’t it?
William’s the heir. Kate’s story is not as important as his in the hierarchy. That’s the message I’m getting. The heir will be centered no matter what.
This is so true even thou Ma Mids would have us believe otherwise – that narrative is being trashed, wonder what it’s ahead of.
The centering of William in the life and illness of someone else is not really surprising. He’s a spoiled man-baby, just like his father, who always needs to be centered in every story – even ones that aren’t his own. Everything is about him and how he feels or what he needs or how to use it to embiggen him. Everyone else involved is just there to prop him up.
So he’s being centered, but also protected. That’s what I take away. This is all setting him up for his next phase: divorced or widowed single dad preparing to become king.
It’s so interesting to me that the Middleton PR machine has been so silent. Why aren’t they hitting back with the Keen queen in waiting or Top CEO stories? Do they know things are already over behind the scenes? Have the settlements to the Midds already been paid and keeping their gossiping traps shut is part of the deal?
What is really going on and where is Kate?
No current photos of Charlotte and Louis
I can’t believe that we haven’t seen Kate, Charlotte, or Louis in five months. Whatever is going on here shocks the conscience. Outrageous!
That’s an interesting theory @Hopey and actually it would make sense.
I also think that ultimately Kate is retiring from royal duties and we won’t see much of her in the future.
“always needs to be centered in every story” THIS.
Except when it’s about the consequences in this case he is perfectly capable to throw is sick wife under the bus.
The photo of Charlotte was taken end April beginning of May unless it was photoshopped, the Montana was out. Mind you, it could have been taken anywhere.
Right, and we shouldn’t be shocked by that. William and the Firm will ALWAYS center William in these types of narratives.
The issue isn’t that Kate is sick or that she had surgery, the issue is how those things affected WILLIAM. It’s not about Kate’s recovery, its about what that means for WILLIAM. this is pretty classic narcissist behavior and that’s only going to be amplified by his position and the hierarchy.
The line “everything hinges on Kate’s well-being” sounds ominous to me, but I’m trying not to read too much into it because its from Seward, and if we give her zero credit when it comes to H&M i’m not sure she deserves that much more credit here. But still…..
Anyway, I also think this is setting the stage for Kate retiring from public life to “protect her health” and then ultimately a divorce as William needs a supportive partner by his side who can help shoulder some of this burden and Kate understands that. There is no bad blood between them, they love their children and will continue to co-parent happily and remain friends as they go their separate ways. (that’s how I imagine KP spinning it.)
Saw an interview with Angela Levin the other day in which she said they were all waiting for “Kate to come out of her — um, er, um, for Kate’s health to improve. ” Twice. She all but said the word coma.
I’m no fan of Kate’s long standing sketchy behavior but this constant centering of William and shunting Kate’s (possible) health struggles off to the side is jarring.
It has to be obvious even to those with a passing knowledge of royal life. Is William so fragile that he has to be coddled on such a global, pitiful scale?
Yes, plus William’s need to be centered over his brother’s Invictus Games celebration. Suspicious timing.
He is really giving Trump vibes. 24/7 victim. Never wrong. Never can accept blame. Never apologize. It’s like he is the poster boy for the DSM5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Lots of variants of cluster B personalities but William is really giving off vibes of the more dangerous-malignant kind.
Yeah they way he has been centered into her health story is creepy and v telling – she’s been pushed into the background and he’s being setup to be some sort of single father who has to shoulder ALL the responsibilities blah blah blah.
When her ‘retirement’ is announced it won’t make much of an impact as she’s not missed as it is – question is will it be a quiet divorce or long term separation where they divorce when the kids are old enough or it looks like he’s going to take the throne sooner. Am not convinced he wants her to be at his side when he takes the throne, harder to divorce her then.
My question: why is there so much consensus that it would be hard for W to divorce K after he ascends the throne? It was my understanding that in previous generations, that was the unspoken rule b/c of the whole Head of the Church of England thing. But Cluck’s divorce from Diana and marriage to Cloppy surely destroyed that argument? Coupled with W’s well known contempt for religion generally, how would W even see this as an impediment? After Cluck’s generation, there will never be an abdication crisis over divorcees marrying again, surely.
That pic of him though…..lol
LOL I know that front cover picture just cracks me up. He looks like a muppet and not in a good way with that expression.
That photo was a CHOICE. He doesn’t look strong or determined or anything other than just irritated and annoyed.
It’s weird how Will is centered in all these stories about Kate’s illness lately, and how he included himself when someone asked about her. It’s like she’s just disappeared or something. Once again, the complete radio silence about Kate herself is making me wonder WTH is going on.
If he’s not allowed to see or speak to her, then he has to go on whatever information he’s being given, while pretending he’s right there in the thick of it.
So we get a lot of vague platitudes about everyone doing well and a lot of Will-centering nonsense, because the only concrete thing he knows about any of it is how much it all sucks for him.
Charles has him on an information diet. Kate has him in an information famine. And KP is left to rehash the same story over and over while pretending it’s an update.
Wait now I missed something. Is this a new theory that he’s not allowed to see her? How did that come about?
This man is all drama..🎭 he is a one man show, I can pull up a parade of headlines to prove it. What absolute 🐂 💩 is he pushing now?
One man sh*t show is more like it 😂
Hahah! This!! ^^^
The only reason the press embigens William is because the UK is very important to the Western alliance and the royals are the UK’s leading representatives. Unfortunately, William has made so many missteps in the past few months that this situation with Kate might be the last straw for this monarchy. How much longer can Kate’s absence be excused? If something has happen to Kate, William has painted himself into a corner.
This article (in an American publication, no less) sounds exactly like North Korean propaganda. Well, maybe North Korean propaganda is a little more subtle. Sounding like NK is not helpful to the western alliance. It’s appalling, and I know it’s only People mag, but they should be ashamed. 🫣
I would put in a big WAS. The Queen was a diplomatic heavyweight, Charles might be in some ways. William will never be. No one (at least internally) takes the Royals serious, all they are is tabloid fodder. The UK is a shadow of its former self. No great things to come.
Saint huevo article. How he suffers. His wife is sick. Huevo parties with cruise and goes to sports and leaves his daughter home on her birthday. No sympathy
William seems to be centered in literally EVERY. SINGLE. STORY. about Kate’s…I guess I’ll just call it her “ordeal”, because who knows WTF is actually going on, and it’s deeply troubling that the media on both sides of the Atlantic are just going along with this narrative. Like, there doesn’t even seem to be much concern for how the kids are dealing with all of this. All we get is a passing acknowledgment that they exist, but only as an extension of their father’s supposed plight, almost like they’re just another burden piled on top of everything else this poor, put-upon man must cope with.
It’s Kate’s “ordeal” but just look at how amazingly well William is handling it. Creepy doesn’t begin to describe this gaslighting. And no drama? We’ve had nothing but drama for months now.
So what this tells me is that this narrative is coming straight from William, because he centers himself in everything. It’s all about him – that’s how he was raised, that’s how his entire life has been, even his time in the military didn’t ground him the way it did for Harry.
So William has taken firm control of the narrative here and Carole Middleton seems to have again been silenced. She seemed to be back in the PR game for a few months there and now she’s gone again.
I never thought I’d say this, but I would actually love to hear from Carole Middleton right about now. Preferably, I’d like her to tell the truth about what’s going on with Kate, but even her tired old “Saint Catherine” shpiel would be reassuring at this point. It would at least be SOMETHING, you know? The silence is deafening. I also wonder just how they’ve managed to keep her quiet, because even if there’s nothing to any of the darker theories out there, and the official story turns out to be the absolute truth (unlikely), I think most parents would be so disgusted to see their seriously ill daughter continually thrown under the bus and relegated to a mere background character in her own story, that there would be no way to keep them from clapping back. I know the Middletons are not like most families, but surely even they must have their limits?
Some of usweekly’s articles felt like they maybe came from Carole. But yeah, People is the establishment’s go to, which is William. And if he allows, he’ll include Kate.
@Miranda we did hear from CarolE when we got the five-wheeled rental car pic with her and Kate. She was letting us know Kate was alive. The week before had been the zenith of KateGate gossip where the world went wild wondering what was going on. I think CarolE took matters into her own hands by releasing that photo because William promptly banned it from being shown in Britain. But at least CarolE tried something. Since then, CarolE hasn’t been seen.
I never wondered this before, but could the Kate in the rental car also have been AI? Her hair was all fuzzy and messed up like AI couldn’t get it right.
He is handled it with lies and he makes it all about himself.
I think it’s just because he’s a raging malignant narcissist and of course Kate’s illness and everything that goes with it is happening to him and people should feel sorry for him and he has an entire institution around him to blow this narcissism into gargantuan proportions.
To be honest, Kate going missing is the most interesting thing these two have ever done.
Amen!
Hey peg you are not the one who is ill. I pity the UK if he gets to be king
“We’re all doing well, thank you,” William said.May 2, 2024. is not an answer to how is Kate.
I read the headline too quickly and saw: Prince William has ‘handled’ his wife’s issues with ‘calmness & lack of charisma’
I remember when every other People cover was about missing white women. .
Good point. The missing Kate story is very much in their wheelhouse but royal access trumps that, I guess.
I mean, that is *technically* what this is about as well.
The tradition continues.
Et tu, Robert Lacey?😂
Something I’ve been thinking about lately. Anytime you see a KP mouthpiece, if you look back a little further, you’ll find a reporter who was once critical of the Wales or told some truths about the Wales. It becomes so clear that the critical reporter was noticed and then brought into the fold to become a stenographer rather than an actual reporter. Examples:
-Robert Lacey was critical in his book Band of Brothers but then was clearly given direct access to William for the additional chapters which became a real 180
-Dan Whooten, Richard Kay and Tom Sykes all wrote about the Rose affair and then became William’s biggest cheerleader stenographers.
-Camilla Tominey wrote an absolutely scathing review of William and Kate’s India tour and then became a Middleton/KP mouthpiece
It’s such an obvious pattern and I’m sure there’s more examples.
Nice piece of research.
Elevated leadership role? I haven’t seen even a minimal amount of leadership.
Taking part in school drop-offs and pick-ups rather than “always” leaving the task to a nanny, huh? Sure, Jan 🙄
And I thought Charles was the most self centered. Peg takes the prize as he plays martyr.
This could be an effort to counter recent negative press in US that had traction.
1. US Weekly cover story – that had strong legs online
2. Alexander Larman ( from
The Spectator) article in Time Magazine- his paragraph on the PoW as future Monarch was unflattering and it was the part that went viral
People Magazine is known as the outlet that prints what the PR person says. It’s like a sponsored content print and digital
Outlet. The readers know this and the celebrities know this. The PR person shapes the features in People so it’s usually used to launch /build on growing fame or change a narrative . Readers go to read something nice and see nice pictures of celebrities and the negativity is kept at the edges but most know the features are in partnership with the featured. Even the sexiest person is PR driven.
I think ( could be wrong) this cover feature could also to be an SEO piece to manage public expectations of any near future increase in visibility from KP – given that the King is doing more public facing work so he will be more visible and H&M upcoming trip – this signposting of the PoW focus on his wife’s healing set expectations , for e.g of any “response” tour? 🤔🤷🏼♀️
This is the conclusion on FK from Alexander Larman referred to above
Yet a man who has no interest in the religious faith that he will be defender of, who has been beset by scurrilous rumors including adultery, and whose attitude toward the Commonwealth seems to be that it’s best wound up without delay is hardly the steady and dutiful custodian of the throne that his grandmother was.
If a wife who is ill sees the husband wanting to play victim and authorizing poor him artcles she would be arranging a divorce. I hope kaye tosse s him out he is a disaster
In People Magazine’s world “Where is Kate?” never happened.
I wouldn’t call Bulliam’s very public rages about Harry and Meghan – while clearly ignoring his job *and* his family – “calmness and lack of drama”, the way he reacts dismissively whenever someone inquires after Kate Missington.
I mean, the Prince of Ales is, despite his grandiose title and millions upon millions of unearned money in the bank, a narcissist who’s jealous and envious of Harry’s freedom and successes.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if there are redundancies announced at People mag sooner or later.
Remember that Muppets sketch with Beaker singing “Me, me, me” to the tune of Ode to Joy? That’s what I’m getting.
LMAOOOO
The People cover says Peg is carrying the weight of the monarchy and his family’s pain. Yeah right. The pain of having to work anytime Harry shows up. The pain of interacting with the peasants.
Seriously, the number of People articles around KC and Peg the last week has been startling. The number of articles in that magazine the days before and day of Harry being in UK is insane. And none of it is substantive.
Calm and unfeeling. Uncaring calm.
It is surprising to see an American publication centre William over Kate like this, which is likely the work of British lackeys like Simon Perry. You would never have seen People centre Charles over Diana on a cover for any reason.
It also shows that Kate doesn’t have the reach that Diana did in the states because Diana was on the cover because Diana always sold a cover much better.
There’s never anything in the media with any real details about how Kate is, how she’s feeling, what she’s experiencing—which is extremely bizarre and doesn’t fit the usual pattern of behavior at all, which is VERY telling. If Kate were really just going through preventative chemo, there would be TONS of stuff all over the media, embiggening her and talking about her amazing strength, talking about how she’s handling it, how the kids are doing, etc. But instead there’s just: SILENCE about Kate. Don’t you guys see how strange that is? That alone is indicative that she’s not really going through cancer/chemo. And then you add in alllllllll the other bizarre, sinister stuff that’s been going on all this year….
My theory on why all these articles in the media center William and don’t write about Kate in any substantive way is because they know the truth that she’s deceased or incapacitated, and want to keep their lying to a minimum, and because they don’t want to look like fools if/when the truth comes out. If it eventually comes out that Kate died, or has been in a coma, since back in December, it looks a lot better that People Magazine or whatever publication, wasn’t making up lies & BS about Kate that whole time.
Totally agree K-peace. They can’t really write about her cos she’s really not here.
Just daft prose about Wills holding the fort to fill the pages.
Waiting for enough time to elapse to fit in with the succumbed to illness narrative.
“they know the truth that she’s deceased or incapacitated, and want to keep their lying to a minimum.”
They’ve been doing nothing BUT lying for over four months! I don’t believe Kate is deceased, but she’s certainly incapacitated.
I SO want one of the Waleses kids to go rogue in the future and spill the truth: “Honestly I barely saw my father, he was never around”. Because nobody believes this bullcrap.
“Calmness and lack of drama”
Haha, pull the other one!
So William is playing the victim, all the while being secretive and refusing to budge an inch with the public about what is happening with Kate and why she cannot make even a very brief appearance. The only reason for this is that someone is guilty of something. They are a ruling class who are apparently above the law, so it is questionable whether we will ever know the truth. This will not endear him to Americans or Britains.
There’s a reason Kate sparkled in the company of Harry, Roger Federer, Ben Ainslie, sportsmen, guardsmen too.
It’s because they are gentlemen. Unlike her always in a flap angry bully of a husband.