Princess Kate has come through a terrifying cancer battle with more than a clean bill of health – insiders say she and Prince William have never been closer, after years of whispers about their marriage were finally forced into the background.
The Princess of Wales, 43, was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in March 2024 and underwent preventative chemotherapy before revealing in September that she was cancer-free. In January 2025, she shared that the disease was officially in remission.
During that long, frightening stretch, Kate and William, also 43, pulled back from the spotlight and focused on their family, sending the rumor mill into overdrive about the state of their relationship.
They’ve spent years under a microscope. The couple, who started dating in 2002 and married in 2011, share three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — and have lived with nonstop speculation since unsubstantiated affair claims first surfaced in 2019.
According to royal watchers, Kate’s health crisis became a turning point.
“For a while there was constant chatter that William and Kate’s relationship wasn’t as perfect as it looked in public,” one insider said. “They’ve been dogged by rumors about his faithfulness. But this health scare pulled them back into the same corner again.”
Sources say the diagnosis instantly reset the couple’s priorities.
“William can be hot-tempered,” one source explained. “Kate has always been the calm, steady one. When the reality of possibly losing her hit, it drew them back together in a powerful way.”
Part of that reset meant stepping away from palace life and carving out a quieter, more protected home base for their children. Insiders say it has taken Kate’s cancer fight “to light their fire again” and remind them what actually matters.
The ordeal also pushed other royal dramas into the background. With feuds and family rifts dominating headlines, friends say the couple had to shut out the noise.
“The moment Kate’s health was seriously at risk, it completely changed William’s outlook,” another source shared. “All the background chatter faded. The focus was her survival.”
Affair rumors didn’t magically vanish, but the dynamic between them reportedly shifted. They became more emotionally dependent on each other than they had been in years.
The backdrop to all that tension was the persistent rumor that William had an affair with Rose Hanbury, 41, a former friend of Kate’s. The allegation, first reported by a U.S. tabloid in 2019, has never been substantiated. Rose, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, denied the claims through her lawyers, calling the rumors “completely false,” and her legal team even pushed back after the story was joked about on late-night TV.
As the couple quietly fought Kate’s illness, they also made a big change at home. Their move in November 2025 from Adelaide Cottage in Windsor to Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park raised eyebrows among royal watchers.
Adelaide Cottage had become linked to a painfully turbulent period — the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis in early 2024, and the early days of Kate’s own health crisis.
“Adelaide Cottage held some very difficult memories,” a palace aide said. “Given everything they went through there, wanting a fresh start somewhere new makes complete sense.”
Online speculation reached a fever pitch in early 2024, when Kate disappeared from public view and an edited Mother’s Day photo sparked conspiracy theories about her health and her marriage. The narrative flipped once she personally revealed her cancer diagnosis in an emotional video message.
Friends say that moment was the final reset.
“Kate’s illness forced a complete reboot,” one source said. “All the conspiracy talk and long-running affair rumors suddenly felt meaningless when it was about whether she would live.”
What’s emerged since, insiders say, is a marriage that’s more guarded, but also more deliberate.
“William and Kate have come back to public life slowly, and it’s not about putting on a united front for cameras,” the insider added. “It looks like two people who have actually survived something life-altering together — and decided they’re in it for the long haul.”
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