How Princess Charlotte's Birth Announcement Was Almost Ruined

Princess Kate stands outside the hospital holding Princess Charlotte who is wrapped in a white blanket, while Kate wears a yellow floral dress and Prince William wears a blue sweater

(Image credit: Getty Images/Mike Marsland/WireImage)

published 23 February 2025

Princess Charlotte was born on May 2, 2015. Charlotte's mom, Princess Kate, held her baby for the world's media to see outside of the Lindo Wing in London just hours after the birth. However, news of the royal arrival very nearly went wrong, according to a former royal aide.

"We weren't going to announce it for another couple of hours," Knauf said in a new interview with 60 Minutes Australia (via Hello! magazine). "And I had this piece of paper to go write this press release. I'm still out there with hundreds of journalists trying to have a game face, and then I couldn't find the piece of paper, and I think I had dropped it somewhere on the street."

According to Knauf, he never found the missing piece of paper, which included secret details of the new princess's birth. Luckily, no-one else found the important document, either. "But somewhere on that street the entire time was a piece of paper that said there had been a little princess born, what time, and how much she weighed," Knauf shared.

You may like

Princess Kate wears a yellow floral dress and holds a baby Princess Charlotte outside the Lindo Wing, while Prince William wears a white shirt and blue sweater — The announcement of Princess Charlotte's birth nearly went awry.

"It was one of those things, like, heart in mouth until we got to the announcement, and I got through it," Knauf explained. He continued, "I never found [the piece of paper] and neither did any of the media, though. So that's all that really mattered."

During his interview with 60 Minutes Australia (via GB News), Knauf also opened up about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis, revealing why the family didn't share the news with the general public immediately. "They didn't want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn't told the children and they were still working through how to tell the children," the couple's former royal aide said.

Prince William wearing a blue coat smiling and looking at Kate Middleton, in a green coat and plaid scarf, standing with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis outside church — Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte attend church in Sandringham on Christmas Day 2024.

The former Royal Foundation CEO also talked about Prince William's visceral reaction to the devastating news, telling 60 Minutes Australia, "It was awful, absolutely awful...It's the lowest I've ever seen him." Knauf continued, "Within a couple of weeks, if you're Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn't believe it."

TOPICS

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.