Kate Middleton is recovering at the hospital after her abdominal surgery. Kensington Palace dropped the bombshell Wednesday last week, and the Princess of Wales is set to stay at the private London Clinic for ten to 14 days.
Although Kate decided to release the news of her surgery, she also chose not to share any more private medical information. She won’t be back to royal duty until after Easter.
We do not often hear about the royals being sick or getting treatment at a hospital. However, Kate Middleton has had several health issues throughout her life, and years ago, she revealed the “rotten” condition she was in.
The bombshell news had royal fans worried.
Kate Middleton surgery
On Wednesday last week, Kensington Palace revealed that Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, had gone through a “planned” abdominal surgery and wouldn’t be back to royal duty before Easter.
“Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. The surgery was successful and it is expected she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter,” the statement from Kensington Palace on its social media pages.
“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”
The statement continued: “Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share. The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.”
The news about Princess Kate’s abdominal surgery wasn’t the only shocking statement from the royal family that day.
Only an hour after Kensington Palace released the statement about Kate, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles was also set to a visit to the hospital for treatment for an enlarged prostate.
“Both the surgery and the announcement were clearly planned,” expert says
The real reason for the two announcements being put out so close to each other will likely remain unknown to the public. However, royal expert Victoria Murphy argues that it simply was a coincidence.
Writing in Town & Country, Murphy said: “The royal family understandably generally try to keep details of their health as private as possible, however when they are forced to cancel public engagements or when a senior royal is admitted to hospital, the public is generally informed in some form.”
Moreover, the royal expert stated that Kate Middleton and her team “decided in advance” to announce her surgery after it had taken place. Also, “both the surgery and the announcement were clearly planned.”
In King Charles’ case, Murphy claims the announcement was “hastier and a result of having to postpone meetings at the last minute on the advice of a doctor.”
While the royal family isn’t necessarily bound to release this information to the public, many surely were glad they did.
Although Buckingham Palace wanted to ensure the public knew about King Charles’ treatment, royal biographer and expert Angela Levin is critical about the timing, saying that the king “could have waited” to announce his health update.
“With the Queen, you would never know until she’d been to perhaps hospital and had what she needed to be done and then got home. Then she would say something,” Levin told GB News.
Kate Middleton set to recover at Windsor home
“It’s very rare indeed. I don’t think it’s appropriate to come out with it on the same day that we were astonished by Catherine’s problem in hospital. I think that it could have waited, but I think as well it’s very quick.”
The royal expert added: “It was only discovered a week or so ago in Scotland and obviously, once you know about these things, you have to have them done quickly. But I admire him enormously for encouraging people to do it.”
Once discharged from the hospital, Kate Middleton is expected to recover at her family home in Windsor, where she and Prince William relocated to in 2022 from London.
While Kate is recovering, Prince William will reduce his public engagements. This is to help better care for the couple’s three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
William will not be on official duty as long as Kate stays at the hospital. According to The Sun, the Prince of Wales was supposed to visit British troops abroad, but the “top-secret” plan was postponed. Meanwhile, the couple was set to visit Italy and its capital, Rome – where they possibly would’ve met the Pope – but that has also been called off.
Princess Kate has to take a step back regarding her significant projects, such as the Shaping Us initiative, as she recovers. Also, they will take on fewer duties during Mental Health Awareness Week next month, during which they are expected to be heavily featured in marketing campaigns.
Royal experts questions if Kate MIddleton’s surgery was planned
In an interview with GB News, royal expert Jennie Bond said her “jaw dropped” when she read the statement.
“We’re told it was a planned procedure, that it was an abdominal problem, that it is not cancer,” Bond said. “But to be in hospital for two weeks and then to go recover for up to two or three months and have a full diary canceled means it may have been planned, but not for a very long time.”
The statement from Kensington Palace focused on the fact that Kate Middleton had a “planned” surgery. But how planned was it, considering that Kate’s office is only now reported to “clear her schedule,” and William is suddenly taking time off and postponing events?
It wasn’t only Jennie Bond who had thoughts about it; royal expert Daniela Elser questioned whether the Princess of Wales’ surgery was planned at all.
“If royal officials are, as the Times has reported, currently ‘clearing’ the Princess of Wales’ diary ‘for several months to allow her proper recovery time’ then this was all a bit more sudden than the bland statement would otherwise suggest,” Elser wrote.
“Royal sources have told the Telegraph that not only will the father-of-three not ‘undertake any public duties’ while his wife is in the London Clinic but also blocked out ‘the immediate period following her return home.’” she continued. “I can’t think of another occasion in recent history when senior members of the royal family have wholly taken themselves off the board so suddenly and for such a lengthy period of time. All of this is perturbing.”
“Alarming detail”
Moreover, Daniela Elser wrote that it’s very unusual for royals to postpone engagements, especially if one isn’t sick, referring to William taking time off to take care of the children and his wife for the two upcoming weeks.
To Elser – considering Kensington Palace saying “planned” surgery – this is an alarming detail.
“The prince and princess were also set, according to the Telegraph, to have another short overseas tour on the books for sometime in February too. That too has now been kiboshed. Tours like these take more planning and prep-work than most lunar missions, thus for the plug to be pulled so late in the game is a particularly alarming detail,” she wrote.
This is not the first time Kate Middleton has had surgery. As a child, she had a three-inch scar on the left side of her head. The scar was first spotted at a private dinner at Clarence House in 2011 when Kate conducted her first solo royal engagement.
Later, an official statement explained that “the scar related to a childhood operation,” however details remained private.
Sources told the Daily Mail that it had been “a very serious operation,” while surgeons said it was unlikely the result of a tumor but instead that the scar was caused by a birthmark being removed.
Kate Middleton bravely opened up about “rotten” condition
William and Kate have decided to give their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, as normal of a childhood as possible. Of course, being royal isn’t exactly ordinary, but the Prince and Princess of Wales try their best not to let that affect their upbringing more than necessary.
Ultimately, William, Kate, and the other royals aren’t more or less human than anybody else. That said, when she was pregnant, the Princess of Wales had struggles like many others.
In 2012, when she was pregnant with George, she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which is acute morning sickness. She had to go to the hospital, an experience she recalled as “rotten.”
Kate had the same experience when pregnant with Charlotte and Louis, and in 2014, she had to cancel a royal tour because of her diagnosis.
Last year, during a visit to the Orchards Centre in Kent, the Princess of Wales decided to open up about her experience with acute morning sickness.
As reported by Express, Kate spoke to a father whose wife went through the same thing and told him: “I went through that. I know what that feels like.”
“I was really sick”
In 2020, Kate Middleton was a guest on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, speaking on her condition.
“[It was] utterly rotten. I was really sick,” she said.
“I wasn’t eating the things I should be eating and yet the body was still able to take all the goodness from my body and to grow new life, which I think is fascinating.”
The princess continued: “William didn’t feel he could do much to help and it’s hard to see you’re suffering without actually being able to do anything about it.”
Kate Middleton continued saying she “quite liked” labor because she had felt bad during her pregnancy.
“Because actually, it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to,” she explained. “But I know some people have really, really difficult times, so it’s not for everybody. No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same.”
If you enjoyed this article, perhaps you’d be interested to read about why Kate might not be able to move normally for months following her surgery.
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