Two days after undergoing abdominal surgery, Kate Middleton received a visitor at the London Clinic on Thursday. Prince William was photographed behind the wheel of a car as he left the hospital in the city’s Marylebone district around noon. When Kensington Palace announced Kate’s surgery, it added that she was planning to remain an inpatient at the hospital for ten to 14 days, and would likely not return to royal duties until after Easter. The palace declined to share further details on the princess, but royal sources confirmed to Vanity Fair that she is recovering successful and her condition is “non-cancerous.”
A royal source told the Mirror that Kate and William will both postpone a planned trip to Italy and he will also be taking time off from his royal duties. “Everything has been rightly dropped in such circumstances,” the source said. “William and Kate have always put their family first and now the Prince of Wales’ central role will be to be there for his wife and his children until the Princess has made a full recovery.”
According to the Daily Mail, Kate’s parents Michael and Carole Middleton, and her two siblings Pippa Matthews and James Middleton, are planning to support the princess after she is discharged from the hospital back to her home in Windsor.
In their statement about the Tuesday surgery, Kensington Palace said it was “planned.” Kate hasn’t made a public appearance since she joined the rest of the royal family for their annual Christmas walk to church near the Sandringham Estate. According to the Telegraph, Kate was not rushed to the hospital but aides were still planning for her trips and future engagements as recently as the end of last week.
The paper added the timing of King Charles’s Wednesday health announcement, which was made 90 minutes after the palace revealed the princess had undergone surgery, was a coincidence. The king only decided to announce his benign prostate condition just hours after receiving his diagnosis following a check-up appointment earlier this week. On Thursday, the UK’s National Health Service shared that visitors to the advice page for prostate enlargement had increased by 1000% after the king shared his news.
Crowds of well-wishers have gathered outside of the private clinic where the princess is recovering. One of Kate’s charity patronages, the East Anglia Children’s Hospice, sent the princess a get well message on a social media account.
“Everyone at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) sends their very best wishes to our wonderful Patron, HRH The Princess of Wales,” it read. “We are all thinking of you and wish you a speedy recovery.”