Prince William was EXTREMELY unhappy with how the social media debacle surrounding Princess Catherine‘s “disappearance” played out.

Of course, the first few months of 2024 were filled with all kinds of rumors, questions, gossip, and unfounded claims about where Kate Middleton was after she disappeared from the public eye for a while. But before they revealed her cancer diagnosis to the world, the palace couldn’t figure out how to address it. They sent out mixed signals, culminating in an obviously doctored photo of Kate. At that point, pretty much everybody became a Kate Truther, wondering what was really going on. As the public was starved for an honest answer, some truly strange rumors spread — like she was divorcing Will or secretly in a coma. Even celebrities like Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Andy Cohen joined in!

And now we know how Prince William reacted privately to all that gossip. Spoiler alert: he was not happy about it!!

According to People, a former staffer says the 41-year-old future king was “upset and angry” at the social media rumors as he helplessly watched them spread over the first couple months of the year. By now, he has managed to “compartmentalize it,” according to that ex-staffer. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t super difficult to see all the conspiracy theories spiral out at the time!

In addition to feeling frustrated by the rumors, the Prince of Wales was temporarily left with no real path forward. After all, his wife did not initially intend to reveal her diagnosis in the manner and timing in which she did. That whole process left “stubborn” William reeling for a while. Valentine Low, a royal insider and the author of Courtiers, explained to the mag:

“William is strong-minded, stubborn sometimes. That, and his emphasis on family life, will give him the backbone and strength to get through this.”

Remember, this follows our report from earlier on Wednesday morning in which another royal insider noted William has been “digging deep” to get through the dual cancer battles of his wife and his father, King Charles. As we covered this AM, that source noted:

“Whether you’re a prince or a pauper, no one would expect anything like this with his father and his wife both being treated for cancer. William is digging deep.”

William is going through it. Kate is, too, obviously. We can’t even imagine the mental ordeal in fighting through her treatment plan with three little ones at home and so much public attention on her. We’re glad to hear that William has since been able to “compartmentalize” all that, as this new insider noted, but damn. TBH, we’d be mad if we were in his shoes, too. The struggle is really, really real. Sending love and light!!