How William discovered Kate had cancer before he pulled out of King Constantine of Greece’s memorial service at St George’s Chapel

Prince William found out his wife Kate had cancer before he pulled out of attending King Constantine of Greece’s memorial service.

The Prince of Wales’s absence from the St George’s Chapel event at Windsor Castle on February 27 had raised eyebrows, but tonight’s revelation about the princess’s health has shed new light on why he stayed away.

Kate had only just been diagnosed with cancer ahead of beginning chemotherapy, it was revealed tonight – after Buckingham Palace had initially said the previous month her condition was non-cancerous.

Royal aides are now expected to rally around William all the more as he steps back from frontline duties and looks after the couple’s children as his wife recuperates.

The prince has already been adjusting his royal duties to devote even more time to his family after Kate was first admitted to the London Clinic in January.

The couple have both been dedicated to doing their fair share of the school run each morning and afternoon since their three children began attending £24,000-a-year Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire in September 2022.

The co-ed institution is not far from the family’s Frogmore Cottage home on the Windsor estate – and is also convenient for visits by the princess’s parents.

Carole and Michael Middleton live just 33 miles away in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and the strong mother-daughter bond has been a key feature of troubled recent months.

Kate’s siblings Pippa, 40, and James, 36, are also close at hand in Bucklebury. 

William’s decision not to attend the memorial service for King Constantine came as a surprise at the time, with the reason described as ‘personal reasons’.

Also missing was his father King Charles, himself receiving treatment for cancer.

Queen Camilla was instead the most senior member of the Royal Family in attendance, with William’s uncle Prince Andrew also enjoying a prominent role as he led fellow royals on foot to the service.

Constantine was the godfather of William, who is said to have called the Greek royal family to apologise for not being there. 

The Prince was due to read from Revelation 21:1-7, a popular reading for funerals that begins ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth’.

He had cleared his diary of official duties to help support Kate’s recovery, although did visit a homelessness charity’s base in Sheffield on Tuesday this week.

The couple were seen being driven from Windsor on March 11, although only William attended that afternoon’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in central London while Kate continued on to a private appointment elsewhere.

Their children Prince George, 10, eight-year-old Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, five, all attend Lambrook School which starts its summer term on April 17. 

Royal experts have said the parents chose Lambrook because they wanted their children to have a ‘different kind of schooling’ to their own. 

George and Charlotte were previously pupils at Thomas’s Battersea while Louis attended Willcocks Nursery in Kensington, both schools in London.

William and Kate were pictured strolling into Lambrook School’s grounds hand-in-hand with their children for their first day there in September 2022.

They are believed to have been sharing ‘school run’ duties but William has now been taking on more responsibilities – as have Kate’s parents Carole, 69, and Michael, 74.

Earlier this month Carole was snapped at the wheel of a car driving her daughter – pictured for the first time in two months – around Windsor Castle.

The photos were published by US gossip website TMZ but not in the UK after Kensington Palace appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private.

Insiders who knew the Middleton children at school have said her family was renowned for ‘doing everything to the very highest of standards’.

A fellow parent told Tatler recently: ‘There were huge picnics on sports days, the smartest tennis rackets — that kind of thing.

‘It made the rest of us all feel rather hopeless. Ultimately, Carole has played a blinder as a mother – not only are all of her children unfairly good-looking, they are also famously charming.

‘Always the first to write a thank-you letter, they dance all night and are still the first up in the morning, plumping cushions and washing up.’

Two years ago, Carole and Michael Middleton made a sombre appearance as they joined senior members of the Royal Family for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s committal service. 

Months later, they were seen in high spirits as they arrived at Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles III – arriving alongside their children Pippa and James.

Kate’s mother has also always been on hand to support Kate for her annual ‘Together At Christmas’ Carol Service – a known passion project of the princess’s. 

Other get-togethers have seen the mother and daughter huddled up alongside each other at Royal Ascot – and in summer 2022, Kate was seen blowing her parents a kiss as the family attended Wimbledon.

Kate, William and their children have their main home as four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor grounds in Berkshire, with no live-in staff although they do have a nanny, housekeeper and security team living nearby.

The Grade II listed property is owned by the Crown Estate and the couple are said to be paying ‘market rent’.

Lambrook School has just 610 boys and girls aged three to 13 and is mixed so all three children can attend together, cutting down on school runs and security teams.

It offers boarding but George, Charlotte and Louis have all been day pupils there.

The Good Schools Guide says the prep school has a ‘heart of gold’ and offers pupils ‘total freedom to explore, provided you’ve got your wellies on’.

It boasts of ‘first-class teaching and superb facilities’ including a 25-metre swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, an Astroturf, squash court and a new £6million Queen’s Building for ICT and academic learning.

The prospectus quotes one parent calling it ‘the most magical place for our children to spend time, and they can often be seen rosy-cheeked and perfecting handstands, throwing balls or racing to the three stumps’.

School sources have described William and Kate as being ‘like a normal mum and dad’ who throw themselves into events at Lambrook. 

Hello! magazine reported the royal couple take part in all the important school activities, including ‘queueing for the tombola’ in a recent fundraising drive.

The future King and Queen are described as discreetly slipping into events such as carol concerts, fitting occasions around their busy schedules.