Given her months-long recuperation period after the planned abdominal surgery performed at a private London hospital, concerns have been raised that Kate Middleton may be suffering from a serious illness.
In their statement about the procedure, the Palace wrote among the rest that the surgery was a ‘non-cancerous’ one, but the extended period of recuperation may suggest something else is in question. The Palace added that the Princess of Wales will no be returning to her public duties until 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.”
One thing is certain, however, that the Princess wasn’t rushed to the hospital.
According to Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, there could be plenty of reasons why Kate is expected to stay at the hospital for around 14 days. Lee told Express that it all depends on what type of surgery Kate has undergone.
“For abdominal surgery, most people stay in the hospital for four to seven days. After laparoscopic surgery [a type of keyhole surgery], this is reduced to two to four days,” she said.
“It very much depends on what exactly has been done. If a patient needs to go to ITU, it’s likely their hospital stay would be considerably longer. It can take two months or more for the patient to feel comfortable and be able to move around normally afterward.”
As she would be taking her time to fully recover, her husband, Prince William, would also cut on his public engagements in order to be able to take care of the couple’s three children. Of course, he would be assisted by the kids’ nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
Among the rest, Kate would take a step back from important projects such as the Mental Health Awareness Week that is to take place next month.
In an interview with GB News, royal expert Jennie Bond said her “jaw dropped” when she read the statement, saying it was a “shock.”
“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 expert further added, “I have no idea what it is she doesn’t want us to know at this stage, but I do know that she will want to be back home with her family and her children as soon as possible. And so that makes it all more surprising that she may not be back home for a fortnight.
“Prince William is going to divide his time between looking after the children and being at his wife’s bedside, and therefore he won’t be carrying out public engagements either.”
William was seen arriving at the hospital to visit his wife.
Kate’s office reported they have now cleared the Princess’ schedule, and royal expert Daniela Elser is left questioning why would they do that just now if the surgery was indeed planned in advance.
“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.”
To Elser, another alarming detail is that William will also be taking some time off from his engagements, which isn’t something typical for a royal to do unless something serious is going on.
“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.
We wish Kate Middleton a fully and speedy recovery.
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