It’s been several weeks since Kate Middleton broke her silence and revealed via a video message that she’s undergoing preventative chemotherapy due to an unexpected cancer diagnosis.

And now, sources are opening up to People about how the Princess of Wales overcame her shyness to deliver the news amid a massive spotlight…and how Prince William is doing his best to protect her.

“It is a message from the princess about her health, and she wanted to personally deliver the message on her own,” a Kensington Palace source tells People, noting that Wills has been “supporting her throughout” and “is extremely proud of his wife for the courage and strength she has shown not just this week but since her surgery in January. Now more than ever, he’s focused on ensuring his wife has the privacy she needs to fully recover and that his children are shielded from the understandable interest in the news that has been shared.”

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Meanwhile, biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells the outlet Kate was “forthright,” noting that she “is inherently shy, and for her to do that took a lot.” “She was mindful there are very few people who read about that or watched that who doesn’t know someone who has cancer. She was mindful of that,” Bedell Smith adds. “It was a way of reassuring people not only about her condition but helping them have courage.”

FYI, Kate is taking a break from royal duties as she focuses on her recovery, and Kensington Palace has yet to reveal when she’s expected to be back in the public eye.

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