When Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer, Prince William and the Princess of Wales faced a question that millions of parents wrestle with: how much do you tell your children when everything suddenly feels uncertain.
William's answer was to talk more openly than they might have otherwise. But he's honest about the fact that there's no right way to do it.
"Now, that has its good things and its bad things," he said in recent interviews. "Sometimes you feel you're oversharing with the children you probably shouldn't. But most of the time, hiding stuff from them doesn't work."
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Start Your News DetoxThis tension — between protecting children and being truthful with them — is one every parent recognizes, regardless of circumstance. The age of the child matters enormously. Younger kids need reassurance and safety; older ones pick up on what's unsaid and will fill the gaps themselves. Kids are intuitive that way.
William described the process as "always a balancing act." The questions loop endlessly: How much do I say? What exactly do I say? When is the right moment? "There's no manual for being a parent," he acknowledged. "You've just got to go with it a bit of instinct."
What William and Kate settled on was openness paired with reassurance. "We try to make sure we give them the security and the safety that they need," he explained. "And we're a very open family, so we talk about things that bother us, and things that trouble us."
But he also acknowledged the weight of uncertainty. "You never quite know the knock-on effects that it can have. And so, it's just important to be there for each other and to kind of reassure the children that everything is okay."
That last part — being present, showing up consistently — might be what matters most. Not having perfect words, but being steady when things feel shaky. William's candor about the difficulty of the decision, rather than pretending there was an obvious answer, is itself a kind of honesty that other parents facing similar moments might recognize.
