ROYAL INSIGHTS

A former aide reveals all about working for William and Kate – and a near-miss faux pas surrounding Princess Charlotte's birth announcement

- DANIELLE STACEY

The Prince of Wales has described the past year as “brutal” for his family, and a former royal aide has now revealed that Prince William was at his “lowest” after his wife the Princess’s cancer diagnosis.

Jason Knauf was formerly chief executive of William and Kate’s Royal Foundation, stepping down at the end of 2022, and had also worked as communications secretary for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

In an unprecedented interview with 60 Minutes Australia, which was broadcast recently, he said: “Within a couple of weeks, if you’re Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn’t believe it.”

And Jason described his call with the Prince about his wife’s shock diagnosis, which she revealed to the public last March.

“It was awful, absolutely awful. It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen him,” he said. “But the problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background, online. ‘Was she really ill?’