Prince William and Princess Catherine’s humble approach to fame revealed

Royalty naturally attracts attention, with crowds, cameras, and constant admiration being par for the course.

However, Prince William and Princess Catherine are different. Despite being at the centre of the royal spotlight, they seem content to stay out of it, focused on their work rather than the fame that often comes with it.

Jason Knauf, who served as chief executive of William and Catherine’s Royal Foundation before stepping down at the end of 2021, recently spoke with 60 Minutes Australia about how Catherine and William feel about life in the spotlight.

“Neither of the prince or the princess would choose to be public figures,” he said in the interview.

“They’re not that interested in the fame and celebrity that comes with it. In fact, not really interested at all. I think that makes it quite interesting in today’s world to see people out there doing their jobs but for the right reasons.

“With both of these people, the prince and the princess, what you see is what you really get behind the scenes as well,” he added.

Later in the interview, the conversation shifted to a more serious topic—Catherine’s recent battle with cancer and the emotional toll it had on William.

“Within a couple of weeks, if you’re Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn’t believe it,” Knauf said.

He described a phone call with William regarding Catherine’s health battle, calling it “absolutely awful”.

“It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen him,” he recalled.

He also noted the added stress caused by the spread of conspiracy theories online, questioning whether Catherine was truly ill.

“But the problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background, online. ‘Was she really ill?’” he said.

“But they didn’t want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn’t told the children and they were still working through how to tell the children.”