Their bond has always seemed strong, but the events they have been going through in recent months could well consolidate it further. Last January, Charles III and Kate Middleton were hospitalized together in the same London hospital. At that time, the official announcement justified prostate surgery for the King, and abdominal surgery for the Princess of Wales. But on February 5, Buckingham Palace announced that the king was in fact suffering from cancer. Barely two months later, on March 22, it was her daughter-in-law's turn to make a similar announcement and to announce, in a video on camera, that she too was beginning chemotherapy treatment. Just before recording this video, the king and his daughter-in-law had lunch alone. A rare event, but worthy of the challenge that Kate Middleton was preparing to take on. And a few minutes after the video was broadcast, the monarch once again expressed his support. A palace spokesperson said King Charles III was "so proud of Catherine for the courage she showed in speaking out the way she did." It also added that the sovereign had “remained in close contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout these recent weeks”.
To discover
Exclusive visit to Art Paris: reserve your place
Download the Le Figaro Cuisine app for tasty and authentic recipes
Two patients
“He always had a very good relationship with her,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told
People
magazine this Wednesday, March 27. I don’t think it’s presumptuous to say she’s like the daughter he never had.” According to the royal family expert, Charles III “shares with William the desire to protect her. Kate and the King are in this together. An opinion shared by a source close to the Palace who also spoke to the American magazine, insisting on the fact that beyond their family bond, the two crowned heads are now united in illness. “These are two patients who are going through a common health experience, they obviously have a close bond,” she said. I imagine Kate felt comforted by seeing that it was possible to balance some private information without there being an imperative to share everything. A possibility all the more reassuring as the Princess of Wales' announcement came after weeks of speculation about what was really happening to her. Between theories about her divorce from Prince William or even her disappearance, the Palace had a hard time, not to say it failed, in helping her preserve her secret.