Royal fans were elated when Princess Kate and Prince William announced the birth of their second child, but their happy news was nearly revealed earlier than planned due to an awkward mishap

There was great excitement on 2 May 2015 when it was revealed that Prince William and Princess Kate had welcomed their second child together, a baby girl.

The announcement of a royal birth is always a carefully orchestrated affair. But Princess Charlotte’s happy arrival was nearly tainted by disaster, according to a former royal aide. Jason Knauf, a previous advisor to William and Kate, claims a major mishap at the time meant the news could have been leaked before the Palace planned to announce it.

As with the arrival of their first baby Prince George in 2013, William and Kate wanted some time alone with their newborn before sharing the news with the world. And while the couple enjoyed their baby bubble, Jason was tasked with drafting the official announcement, which included information on Charlotte’s birth, including her time of birth and weight.

In a new 60 Minutes Australia documentary, Jason explained: “We weren’t going to announce it for another couple of hours. 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.”

He continued: “Oh my God. Which we managed to get through, but not announce it. 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. It was one of those things, like, heart in mouth until we got to the announcement, and I got through it.”

When asked if he had ever found the slip, Jason responded: “No, I never found it and neither did any of the media though. So that’s all that really mattered.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Jason opened up about Kate’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.

Jason also talked about Prince William’s heartbreaking reaction to the devastating news, telling the programme: “It was awful, absolutely awful…It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen him.” He 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.”

Princess Kate, 43, first announced that she was undergoing cancer treatment in March 2024. A few months later, in September, she shared that she had completed chemotherapy. In January 2025, Kate revealed that she was in “remission” and focused on recovery. King Charles’ cancer diagnosis was announced in February 2024, a month before the Princess of Wales ‘ diagnosis was publicly shared.