People who interacted with Prince William a week ago say he kept his wife's cancer diagnosis close to the vest.
On March 14, the Prince of Wales attended a Diana Award charity event in London, one week before his wife Kate Middleton announced she has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
"He said that it was refreshing to hear all the amazing things the young people were doing. In the context now, knowing he was dealing with so much and that he was in a place where there was such positivity, it was refreshing," Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award who interacted with Prince William at the event, told People in an exclusive interview. "In some sense, when you're dealing with such bad news, you need hope and positivity, and the event was all about that.
"Everyone needs hope, and I know he had heaps of that on that evening," she continued. "And hopefully, he took that home.”
Ojo went on to add that in the wake of Middleton's revelation, Prince William's stoicism while attending the event is "even sadder."
"It took place against the of all the conspiracy theories of the past few weeks," Ojo told the publication. "It reinforces of the danger of the society we live in, where rumors get picked up and almost become a false reality."
After Kensington Palace announced the Princess of Wales had scheduled abdominal surgery and would be stepping away from her royal duties until after Easter, public scrutiny surrounding Middleton's health and wellness hit a fever pitch. The scrutiny intensified in March, after the palace released a doctored photo of the princess claiming it was her first official post-operation photograph. Everyone from the White House press secretary to Late Show host Stephen Colbert weighed in on the controversy and its endless conspiracy theories.
"For her having to feel the pressure to explain everything and address this — it wasn’t just a statement," Ojo told People. "She had to address this, on video, in some sense. I can’t think about the courage and the strength she would have had to rustle up to make that happen."
After interacting with Prince William a week ago, Ojo said she "felt sad" that Middleton felt like "she had to" post a video announcing her diagnosis.
"I felt sad she had to do that. It was hard—you could tell from the video," she said. "It was sad, from a woman to another woman, amid the mental torture these past few weeks. I hope we give them the privacy for their children (that they requested) and allow them to be.
They can lean in as a family without the external noise. She has a great family and I have no worries," she continued. "Personally, I am sad that they have had to endure this ongoing social media conspiracy theory, knowing what they were battling internally.”
