Catherine, Princess of Wales. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Princess Kate Middleton is keeping a cool and collected mindset as she continues her battle with cancer.

“She’s very calm,” royal expert and author Robert Jobson told Hello! magazine in an interview published on Tuesday, August 6. “She’s a person who wants to find solutions and rise above the noise and the drama, and I think, given what she’s gone through, you don’t want to waste any time on noise, on drama, when you’ve had anything to do with your health. … You live day by day; you do the things you want to do.”

Kate, 42, announced she was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in March, two months after she underwent abdominal surgery. In a June social media update, Kate shared that she was “making good process” in her recovery and would continue treatment for “a few more months.”

Jobson, 60, noted that even prior to her cancer diagnosis, Kate made it known to the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III that she would not be “rushed into doing things that she doesn’t necessarily want to do” — including putting her royal duties over her role as a mother.

“That takes quite a lot of courage because you’re in a very alienated world,” Jobson told the outlet. “But I think she realized that she only has one shot at this. She’s got three young children, and they have to come first.” (Kate shares kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, with her husband, Prince William.)

Given her kids’ young ages, Jobson says Kate is taking advantage of “time she won’t get back” with them. “The difference between her and other people is that in your career you may have different phases,” he explained. “With her career, it’s only going to get more and more official.”

Jobson shared more about how Kate manages her work life and family life in Us Weekly’s latest cover story — as well as his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday, August 6.

“Wherever possible [Kate] will do the school run and drop, she makes a point of being there for the school plays and sports days too,” he told Us last month. “The princess believes it’s so important to do the little things and do them consistently.”

He also compared Kate and William, 42, to being a “team” when it comes to raising their kids. “[They are] valuing each other’s opinion above all, no decision made without consulting the other, since before their marriage. The prince knows that Catherine has practical solutions, even to complex problems,” he shared. “They are very much close friends and
partners, as well as husband and wife.”

Kate’s husband and kids were by her side when she made her first public appearance following her cancer diagnosis at Trooping the Colour in June. She stood alongside Charles, 75, Queen Camilla and more royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the Royal Air Force fly-over.

Last month, Kate made another appearance at Wimbledon with Charlotte, receiving a standing ovation from attendees.