While the late Queen Elizabeth II called 1992 her own “annus horribilis,” King Charles would likely compare that to 2024. The Princess of Wales’s abdominal surgery and cancer diagnosis, his own cancer diagnosis, and a constant unravelling of Prince Andrew’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein created a new annus horribilis for The King and the British Royal Family. The small silver lining to 2024 seems to be a strengthened relationship between The King and Princess Kate, who shared the terrible experiences of cancer diagnoses, treatment, and the chaotic media attention that surrounded those events.
The King, who visited Princess Kate in the hospital during her initial surgery, described Princess Kate as his “beloved daughter-in-law” when the Princess of Wales made her own emotional cancer diagnosis announcement. In a statement after the princess’s announcement, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said, “His Majesty is so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did. Following their time in hospital together, His Majesty has remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks.”
Their shared experiences created a very emotional bond between The King and the princess. “I think Kate’s relationship with her father-in-law over their shared cancer battles really has made her much more sensitive to King Charles’s feelings,” royal author Christopher Anderson explained. “She knows better than anyone that having someone publicly imply you may be at death’s door is horribly demoralizing.”
Prince Harry further upset the situation with his May 2025 interview, where he told BBC News “I don’t know how much longer my father has.” Anderson writes that this made the Princess of Wales “more disappointed than angry.”
Princess Kate has strived to be the “level-headed one” in the ongoing rift between Prince William and Prince Harry, as she tried to “bridge the widening gap between the brothers.” Anderson wrote that Princess Kate “must have felt stung by that comment as well, since she is in a situation very similar to The King’s.”
