On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at her home in Balmoral, Scotland. According to a new book by royal expert Robert Jobson, Prince William and Princess Kate helped the monarch feel “immense comfort” prior to her death for a very important reason.

In Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography, which has been serialized by the Daily Mail, Jobson explained, “As her strength ebbed away, it brought her immense comfort to know the monarchy could be entrusted to the next two generations.” Upon the queen’s death, her eldest son Charles became king. Prince William became the heir apparent, while he and his wife Kate Middleton became known as the Prince and Princess of Wales. As a result, the queen likely knew that the monarchy was secure in the hands of her family.

In his candid account of the queen’s last days, Jobson described the monarch’s reality having been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. “Her health deteriorated rapidly over the following three months,” Jobson explained. “She struggled terribly with failing eyesight, and had difficulty even lifting a teapot to fill her cup.”

A source described some of the challenges the queen faced following her diagnosis, telling Jobson, “Her Majesty could hardly see and just didn’t have the strength.” They continued, “She would get terribly frustrated as she hated causing a mess, pouring it over the tray.”

2024 brought the devastating news that both King Charles III and Princess Kate had been diagnosed with cancer. However, in July, royal fans were delighted to see the Princess of Wales return to the public eye when she attended Wimbledon with daughter Princess Charlotte.

Jobson also detailed Princess Kate’s important influence on the monarchy, and on Prince William, in particular. ‘[She] is somebody who always tries to see both sides of any dispute,’ a source told the royal author. “She has a cool head and is ’emotionally mature’; she can open William’s eyes to other points of view.”