Kate Middleton’s Brother Makes Rare Comments About How Her Cancer Diagnosis Affected Her Family

The Princess of Wales announced she was in remission this past January.

• James Middleton is the younger brother of Kate Middleton (as well as sister Pippa Middleton).
• James opened up in a new interview about how the Princess of Wales’ 2024 cancer diagnosis was a “challenging time.”
• He also praised Kate and his brother-in-law Prince William for their efforts surrounding mental health awareness.

Kate Middleton’s brother James Middleton is sharing candid and rare comments about his older sister’s cancer diagnosis, which was announced in March of last year. (In September 2024, the Princess of Wales announced that she had completed chemotherapy, and shared in January that she was in remission from the disease.)

James said that Kate’s cancer diagnosis “was a challenging time” for her family in a new interview with The Times.

Getty Images Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte attend the 2024 Christmas morning service at St. Mary Magdalene Church

“What I think is that, as a family, you learn to see and process and understand things,” James told the publication. “For her and her family, it was a challenging time, and I know for us and our bigger family, it was a challenging time, but I think it’s about communication and it’s about offering support and help where you can.”

He added that “Being there for someone is such an important part, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be on your terms, and it shouldn’t be on your terms. It should be on their terms; unconditional. ‘I’m not doing it for something in return. I’m doing it because I love you.’”

“And that’s the simplest way of really demonstrating love,” James continued. “You can do it in all these various fancy ways, but actually, you know, it is just generally being there.”

Kate, James, and middle sibling Pippa Middleton are part of the famously tight-knit Middleton clan helmed by parents Michael and Carole Middleton. James—who has been open about his struggles with mental health over the years—even spoke about his older sisters Kate and Pippa accompanying him to therapy sessions, telling the outlet that “Having them there meant that I knew I was surrounded by people that truly understood what I was going through. I think the biggest challenge was that I had my own stigma about mental health.”

He also praised Kate and brother-in-law Prince William’s efforts in trying to bring mental health struggles out of the shadows and into the light through their royal work: “And, you know, credit to my sister and brother-in-law for what they were doing with Heads Together at the time,” James said, referring to the mental health campaign William and Kate launched with Prince Harry in 2016.