When it comes to big moments in the royals’ lives like births, weddings, and deaths, the details are kept airtight – the news isn’t getting out until exactly when they want it to. But the people behind these major announcements are still human, and one very human mistake almost led to the reveal of Princess Charlotte‘s birth earlier than expected.
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During an appearance on 60 Minutes Australia this week, Jason Knauf – an aide who worked for Prince William and Kate Middleton until 2021 – sat down for a wide-ranging interview about his time working for the royals. And according to him, that included a moment when he almost let out the news a bit too soon that his bosses had welcomed their second child.
“You know, you have hundreds and hundreds of journalists and photographers from all over the world that arrive in London, camping outside trying to get their spot,” Jason explained on the show, via People. “Meanwhile behind the scenes, you have a very pregnant member of the royal family and her husband who are trying to get their lives organized for the arrival of a different child.”
Kate’s famous for making appearances in front of the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital in London after the births of each of her three children (in full hair and makeup just hours after being in labor, of course) to introduce her babies to the public for the first time. Before that, however, comes the official announcement, which is then shared on an easel outside of Buckingham Palace.
First, Jason had to draft the announcement, so he got his paper ready, and that’s where everything went wrong.
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“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 said.
Fortunately, no one ever ended up finding the paper, so the announcement of Charlotte’s arrival went off as planned, which must have been such a huge relief for Jason.
“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,” he said on the show.
There’s no word on how Will and Kate reacted about the near-leak (if they were ever brought in the loop, that is), but it’s good to hear it didn’t end up spoiling such an exciting day for the family.
