Popular Facebook Rumor Says Prince William Made 'Sad Announcement' About Kate That Left Fans in Tears. Here Are the Facts

In April 2024, multiple Facebook pages all posted a vague rumor about the British royal family. The rumor said William, Prince of Wales, had made an apparently new and sad announcement about his wife, Kate, Princess of Wales. The posts read, "Prince William makes the sad announcement that leaves fans in tears: 'My wife it's been…'" This same text was shared on Facebook in March, too.

One example came from a page named PrayAmerica:

This rumor was shared on Facebook after a March 22 video announcement in which Kate disclosed she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. The news followed King Charles III's own cancer diagnosis, which was disclosed by Buckingham Palace on Feb. 5.

"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London, and at the time, it was thought that my condition was noncancerous," Kate said in the video. "The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy."

As for the rumor about William, the Facebook posts promoting the supposed "sad announcement" were misleading, false, scammy and outdated.

The Facebook posts each led to various articles about the royal family. These articles were not hosted by major news websites readers might be familiar with. The best way to describe these websites would be with words like "strange," "lifeless" and "untrustworthy." Further, some of the websites displayed pop-up ads and other malware, perhaps indicating the goal of some of the Facebook posts was to scam users.

Aside from the Facebook posts, it's true William did once utter the four-word "my wife it's been" as part of a longer statement. The context of these words can be found in an article published by the British tabloid The Sun.

On Feb. 18, 2024, The Sun reported news of William's attendance at the British Academy Film Awards, better known as the BAFTA Film Awards. He has served as the President of BAFTA since 2010.

The Sun's story was published more than a month before Kate's cancer diagnosis was made public. We have bolded the four words "my wife it's been" below:

In other words, the four words were part of an outdated quote about how William had been unable to watch many of the films nominated for awards, due to Kate's health. There was no fresh news about the royal family pertaining to William and Kate. There were, however, plenty of misleading, false, scammy and outdated Facebook posts to go around, as usual.

Sources:

"A Message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales." YouTube, The Prince and Princess of Wales, 22 Mar. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_jE1j_KOZk.

Davies, Howell, et al. "William Makes Light-Hearted Quip about Kate's Health as He Attends Baftas." The Sun, 18 Feb. 2024, https://www.thesun.co.uk/royals/26019937/prince-william-baftas-red-carpet-kate-royal/.

Johnson, Carla K. "What Is Known about Kate's Cancer Diagnosis." The Associated Press, 22 Mar. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/kate-middleton-cancer-diagnosis-what-we-know-edefdc8674d100c8d6eb4619c85561d5.

Lawless, Jill. "King Charles III Is Being Treated for Cancer and Will Temporarily Halt His Public Duties." The Associated Press, 5 Feb. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/king-charles-iii-cancer-britain-e0408a7c9bb86ad2af8754ce4b37d65e.

O'Connor, Amber. "Prince William Shares a Sweet Message from Kate Middleton as He Attends BAFTAs." Cosmopolitan, 19 Feb. 2024, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a46850055/prince-william-kate-middleton-update-baftas/.

"President and Vice Presidents." BAFTA.org, https://www.bafta.org/about/key-personnel/president.