Well, it looks like Kensington Palace is still in damage-control mode following their complete mishandling of the “Kate had abdominal surgery” story. After the first KP statement, announcing that Kate had “planned abdominal surgery,” I kept waiting for someone to come out and at least give a reasonable cover story for what was happening and why everyone was being so squirrelly. Two weeks later, we’re left with more questions than answers. Why was William only seen once at the London Clinic? Why didn’t the Middletons visit the hospital? Why hasn’t William been seen at all since that one photo-op outside the hospital? Did King Charles actually see Kate when he checked into the London Clinic? We still don’t know. The only question which has any kind of reasonable or logical explanation is “why didn’t Kate’s children visit her?” So of course, that’s the question People Mag is tackling.
Kate Middleton thoughtfully chose not to have her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, visit her at the hospital while she recovered from abdominal surgery. While Prince William visited his wife during her 13-day stay at the private London Clinic following the surgery on Jan. 16, their three children didn’t make the trip to see their mom.
“I don’t think she wanted to make more of a big thing of it than it already was. They’ll be rallying ’round in their own way and helping to look after her,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward exclusively tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. Instead, Kate stayed connected to her children via FaceTime, which she and William regularly do when they are away from the children on royal tours.
Children are generally not allowed to visit the London Clinic without permission from the hospital for the safety of the patients and to keep infections at bay. A patient who had abdominal surgery at the London Clinic last summer told PEOPLE he felt regret around having his son visit him as he found the experience “really scary.”
Upon quietly returning to Adelaide Cottage, the family’s private residence near Windsor Castle after being discharged from the hospital on Monday, Princess Kate reunited with her three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
“I’m sure she’s utterly exhausted, but she’ll recover well,” Seward says of the Princess of Wales, 42.
As I said, this is the one question with a reasonable explanation – the kids didn’t visit because they’re too young, because of hospital regulations, because they are in school, because whatever Kate was going through, it wasn’t serious enough that the kids’ schedule should be interrupted. Take your pick. But this still glosses over all of the other questions. Anyway, I hope the kids are okay and that they get to spend some time with Kate as she recuperates. I hope all of this isn’t falling on Nanny Maria as well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.
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- Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Prince and Princess of Wales. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Josh Shinner. The photograph shall be solely used for news editorial purposes only. It shall not be approved for souvenirs, or memorabilia; or anything colourably similar. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photograph (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. The photograph shall not be used after 31st December 2024 without prior permission from Kensington Palace. Any questions relating to the use of the photograph should be first referred to Kensington Palace and before publication. Undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of the Prince and Princess of Wales with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The photograph, which features on their Royal Highnesses’ Christmas card this year, was taken by the photographer Josh Shinner earlier this year and shows The Prince and Princess with their three children in Windsor. NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.,Image: 828291451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace / Avalon
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Mia Tindall Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Prince George, Prince Louis, Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
She was never There!!! They are covering up for 12/28/23
I keep reading that date referenced. Can you explain further?
If I may, on the 28th of December someone filmed a fleet of official cars rushing by, people saying it’s K being taken to hospital. (it was in the wherabouts of a castle)
On 28th Dec someone tweeted a photo of a convoy of cars used for VIPs driving nearby a different London hospital (possibly to the hospital, but who knows) which is a few miles from Kensington Palace. The tweeter weirdly wrote a caption saying something like “trouble at Sandringham?” implying the convoy was taking a royal to hospital. Such convoys are an every day sight in London as many politicians and VIPs use them, and Kate “officially” was in Norfolk that day.
The tweeter very specifically referenced Royals, which is weird and intentional. I don’t know what the tweeter knows that they’re not saying.
Yeah, its the convoy picture the others have mentioned.
The only reason I think there’s any credibility to the idea that it was Kate (because it could have been many other people) is that I think it fits with the idea that she was released from the hospital before her surgery was announced (well released from London Clinic, even if she was not sent home.) It just seems weird to me that KP would announce she was having surgery at this specific hospital and would be there for two weeks and oh, coincidence, Charles is there too! oh look at all the public support, all the family visits (whoops, no) etc.
But it makes more sense to me if Kate was admitted a few weeks earlier and then discharged before it was announced. So its not lying to say she was at the london clinic, because she was. And then if she was discharged to a different facility for a few weeks and then was discharged from THAT one earlier this week.
I did a deep dive into that convoy, and I think the original tweeter was spreading mis-info (like he regularly does). The intersection the convoy was at in the video and pictures is a weird one for a hospital run to either King Edward VII’s as in the tweet or London Clinic, and is a particularly odd coming from any royal residence I can recall, including KP. I’m convinced it was a diplomat, or ambassador, of someone of that ilk, going somewhere else.
For any Londoners – the convoy was going south on A4201 and turned west onto New Cavendish St.
Thanks for this info. This is fascinating to me. I can imagine exactly that level of security around a high level person in an entirely different capacity. I’ve only watched it twice – it’s so quick. I’ve never thought to question — to me it’s range rover type vehicles. Is there even an ambulance proper? I might have been overwhelmed by the other cars to notice an ambulance.
The world did not turn her into Princess Diana, they must be furious. It is not serious, they are just playing more games. Might be back in June, is definitely posing more questions. Is any of it real or a publicity ploy. They are definitely trying to cover up something big. The Epstein list has 6 very well know names redacted, could this be the reason. More and more historical photos are coming out, all called Khates business meetings.
So those photos are because Kate was close friends with Richard Branson’s daughter. People have glorified notions of prostitution. Women with wealth don’t prostitute themselves unless they are drug-addicted. Women do NOT willingly volunteer to prostitute themselves; this only occurs when they are desperate or drug-addicted.
The quote from a former patient just doesn’t ring true. Did some patient just come forward and volunteer this info to People? Otherwise, how did they locate a patient from last summer who just happened to have abdominal surgery and wanted to discuss having a child visit? His name couldn’t be given out by the hospital so did they advertise for former patients to quote or make up one?
I honestly think they get their comments from here or maybe reddit sometimes. Weren’t there similar arguments in the comments here about people’s kids being scared at a hospital visit?
They’re definitely trying to play down the “well, mental health treatment only allows limited family visits” theories. It’s not consistent messaging that’s for sure.
The hospital website clearly states children can’t visit unless approved in advance. I assume the exception is for terminal patients. I have no idea why People is publishing this nonsense.
@Megan, these rules don’t apply to royals. They have a different wing for them and everything. If Kate wanted to see her children, she would. Who is gonna say no to them?
Personally, I still can’t wrap my head around why kids (at least of Charlotte and George’s ages) would not be allowed to visit their parents in the hospital. Here in the NLs, I have two friends (GI cancer and pancreatitis with complications), father-in-law (stem cell transplant and shared a room with a younger man who was a father), and someone at school’s grandparent had a kidney transplant. All vulnerable people. All who got to see their elementary school aged (grand)children. This rule makes little sense to me. It really helps a patient to recover when they can see their loved ones.
I don’t understand why people wouldn’t be taking their kids to see family. I remember (in the early 90s) when my Dad was in the hospital after his first surgery for cancer. He was in the hospital for about a week and there was a small family member about 3 (I think) and he REALLY liked Dad. When he was brought into the room he looked around, spotted Dad and that was that. He didn’t notice tubes or anything else. He was happy to sit on the bed beside one of his favorite people and talk to him.
Perhaps not every child would react like this, but I cannot believe that school aged children wouldn’t want to see their Mom. I tend to think KHate was out of the hospital when her surgery was announced. She’s probably with Ma Mids. It’s quite interesting that all of a sudden her hospitalization is not a huge thing. I guess all of the variety of comments have finally gotten through to someone that they created this chaos and they needed to clean it up.
I remember when I was 8/9 years old visiting my Grandpa in the hospital. Back then it wasn’t called Alzheimer’s. My parents took us to see him. We brought him joy as we did when we scampered down to see him almost every day of our young summer lives. This particular Grandpa was the ultimate Renaissance man if he was actually a renaissance man. He sewed, he made quilts, he baked, he hunted, he loved, he mourned(the loss of my 100% Irish Grandmother), cooked and sometimes scolded us when we were naughty. He always had cookies to share.
I’m okay not seeing signs/photos of the Wail’s children visiting her. The excuses given out by the BM/BRF are laughable. Normally, I’m better at finding things. One of which is a quote or something I read somewhere? Parenthood? Maybe.
Kids are okay even if their parents are in the next room wanting to kill themselves. paraphrasing please correct.
CaroleE not being seen visiting Kate at the London Clinic is a greater concern than William. Go back to Kate’s bday. She was supposedly celebrating maybe quietly at Bucklebury. Kate’s 40th, after celebrating her funky ass 40th bday portraits, celebrated quietly with William & children at Anmer. Maths not mathing.
This. I’m thinking someone from KP gave them that information. Which of course how would KP have that detail from an anonymous person who just happened to have abdominal surgery in the same hospital and conveniently remembers wishing their kids hadn’t visited. I’m thinking it’s made-up. It’s just silly, transparent and borderline offensive. Stop playing people for fools.
You are right the comment doesn’t ring true. I don’t know the policies of the London Clinic regarding children visiting but it seems odd. I was recently in an NHS hospital in London recovering from brain surgery. The woman in the bed opposite me had her 3 young grandchildren visit. Every patient in that recovery room was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. However, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and no visitor seemed traumatised or upset to visit. It seems perfectly normal to have children visit and can be reassuring if handled correctly.
Thank you—this is the policy as far as I know in Europe as well. A lot of very ill patients, especially if they undergo anethesia or are out of it due to a ventilator, do much better and f they see their loved ones. Many patients deal (especially with ventilators) with trauma/ PTSS afterwards—the visits are beneficial. I can’t imagine that the patients are mentally different than the rest of the population and that ruling makes little sense to me.
exactly this – we took our young kids to visit grandparents in the hospital when they were similar in age to Charlotte and Louis. They weren’t scared in the least and found the visits fun, to see what a hospital looked like. It’s a good teaching opportunity as well, to discuss what a hospital is all about, using your inside voices, etc. The Wales kids are certainly old enough to handle a brief visit, especially as she was away for 2 weeks.
Yes this unknown person said they regretted having their child visit but the article says children aren’t allowed without permission. So which is it. Lots of covering and a very bad job of it. Children usually don’t get to visit if the patient is not mentally stable. Again I had abdominal surgery and I had complications and was in hospital for 52 days to clear up infection. My husband was with me 24/7 . My adult children brought my grand children to visit often. They were not traumatized. These cover stories are ridiculous.
According to the London Clinic website children are allowed with permission. So the two things (the story of the child visiting and London Clinic’s policies) are not contradictory. I just don’t think its likely that People found someone who had been at this same clinic with a similar surgery to Kate whose child visited and they regretted it so that’s proof W&K were right to keep the kids at home.
The anonymous patient is a KP staffer making up nonsense.
Megan, I which people like you would stop making blanket statements about children not being allowed to visit, when there clearly are exceptions. Btw, the law barring folks from attending Sarah Everheart’s vigil didn’t stop Kate from marching on there with photographers in tow did it? Same for their going on a walk in violation of the covid rules. So please stop pretending like she and William couldn’t have the kids at the royal wing if they wanted to.
The website doesn’t even say children are never allowed, only that permission must be sought by the matron before they are brought to the hospital.
We all know that the kids, at least the older two, would have received permission to visit their mother for a visit post op following abdominal surgery , but the fact that they did not implies a lot of things that some circles don’t want to admit.
” the law barring folks from attending Sarah Everheart’s vigil didn’t stop Kate from marching on there with photographers in tow did it? ”
THIS!
THIS THIS THIS!
Kate is ready for her close up at every and all opportunity, even intrusive ones that flout rules like that vigil/protest. How is it Kate and her mother aren’t milking her sick bed for all its worth?
Tbh i never questioned the part about the children not visiting because i dont think it’s my place to comment on choices other parents make for their children(unless they’re being abusive) but this bizarre quote is making me question this. Why did they feel the need to ask this mystery patient who concidentally also had abdomen surgery about whether his kids visited him and how he felt about it? It’s so weird especially since i really havent seen much in the press questioning why the kids didn’t visit; most questions were around William’s lack of visits.
This is all opinion and speculation on Ingrid Seward’s part, and I’ve learned not to trust anything that Ingrid Seward says.
Plus, saying it to People Magazine – the probably paid US PR arm for the palace – is the same as the KP idiots. They’ll print anything.
The one nugget of truth in this whole debacle is that yes, the kids regularly connect with their parents by using facetime… because Will & Kate are separated.
Agreed. It’s certainly not because of a rigorous tour schedule. My 78 year old Mom travels a lot more than the Wails, and she’s just a retired bird watcher.
Let’s say we go with the “not life-threatening but serious abdominal surgery” story. People and their kids can have different dynamics for sure. My kids are 7 and 9, similar to Kate’s kids. They would be very anxious if we told them that I would stay in a hospital for two weeks and they wouldn’t be able to visit. It’s not like a vacation or business trip. They would want to see me to believe that I’m truly OK. Louis is just 5 or 6, very young to not see her in person for so long. If she was in any shape to be seen by her kids, I’m sure they could have been brought to quick visits after school. Just to ease their mind. Just because they are at school doesn’t mean they don’t keep thinking about their mom.
Maybe the kids are used to not seeing their mother every week.
If they split their time between mum and dad, they could be content with seeing her through facetime or something of the sort becasue they’re used to that the week they stay with dad.
I shouldn’t but I can’t help it: you bring up Louis and all I can think is, after what we witnessed of her interaction with him a couple of summers ago, Kate probably appreciates a couple of weeks away from him. I just don’t think she’s as closed to her kids as the press tries to present. They just seem happier around William. Strange.
It could be K herself without anything else. On the other hand, even young kids catch on to which people are more powerful/ liked/ able to do stuff…that would be William. We know they fight, and it took a while for the “Kate gives as good as William” does stories to hit after the William’s temper stories burst out. Plus, sometimes one parent winds up the “parent” and the other one is “fun” (though I don’t know how much that would apply to Kate).
@ProudMary, this is kinda a shtty thing to say, that she “probably appreciates a few weeks off from Louis” because of that interaction. My son is his age and he is also strongminded and can be difficult like that tiny glimpse of what we saw of Louis in public. Sure, sometimes I need a break but holy crap it would kill me to take a few weeks from him just because he requires some extra attention when he gets overstimulated.
Chloe, I agree that was a shtty thing to say but down below to AmyBee you said you have no children……now you have a son who is louis’ age? Which is it?
Are there two Chloes?? If so, someone needs to change their name even slightly or else it just gets too confusing. Why do you I think I used the stupid name Becks1, lol. Its bc there’s another Becks who pops up juuuuuuust enough that I changed my name.
You make a really good point about one parent winding up the other in the kids’ presence. When I saw louis behave that way towards his mother, I thought, god, he’s so young, where could he have learned to do that? Also, agree with you regarding power: kids are very perceptive; they know whose the more powerful parent without being told. And if they model the way that parent treats the other, it explains why Louis, the youngest (gasp!) would treat his mother that way. It makes me wonder if the story about their separation isn’t true. I worked for a judge who had a domestic docket (divorces). I was really shocked at how divorcing parents badmouthed each other and fought in the presence of small children. I’m no fan of Kate’s, but the way Louis seemed that day to have so much respect for his father, and resented his mother, made me feel sad for her. Not that she doesn’t play a role in that. I thought her parenting skill was really poor– the way she started haranguing the kid after he had simmered down, was such an armature move.
I try to not read People but I was curious to see what was the reasoning and sorry, it makes no sense for her to have been there THAT long and no kids. SORRY, not buying it People. She is their MOTHER. I guess they could have FaceTimed or whatever – but that is not mentioned. So this article is a PR sunt and BS.
It does mention that they facetimed her, which they regularly do when the parents are away on tours…….so the last time they used facetime was 2 years ago for the Caribbean Flop Tour??
I completely missed that. Well, I still stand by my original statement LOL.
There is no reason to separate kids from their mom for two weeks. Even with nannies, she’s their mom, they miss her. Kate (apparently) was I n a luxurious hospital wing, no bleeding screaming people around, her room probably looks better than our apartments. They can hide anything that could cause anxiety for kids. Unless she is that unwell. I don’t understand what “it’s not a big deal” means – that kids don’t see her or that her health issue was not a big deal. In that case, why stay 2 weeks?
Whatever this situation is, it stinks.
And the kids could have all gone individually to see their mother because yes, three is a lot if you are recovering – but I am sure she is not in a small room that the average serf is accustomed to being in.
Not one visit from one of the children and no Ma Middleton or Pippa (as others have pointed out) are just odd optics for this close knit group.
I think it means they didn’t want to make the kids worried and thus didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Which begs the question what they told the kids. Louis may still be too young to fully grasp what is going on but George and Charlotte are old enough to know that if your mother has to have surgery, and then stay in the hospital for 2 weeks, all is not well.
If i was her child and they told me i am not allowed to visit her i would have raised hell
I understand the children not visiting. Some children can get tramautised by that.
Maybe it’s because i have no children but how will they be traumatized? They aren’t letting them into the operating room. I mean she is in a comfortable suite in a private hospital. If whatever she has truly is not that big of a deal i don’t see how they would be traumatized. I visited my mother every day until she came home every time she had to have surgery
They can be affected when seeing their loved one, especially a parent like that. BUT this is 13 days we are talking about – not like three or four even 5. It leads me to conclude she was in bad shape and didn’t want them seeing her like that or she was not there that long and was out earlier. 13 days is a very long time to be separated from your mom – especially when they state over and over again how hands on both FK and FQC are with their family.
As a young child I was terrified of hospitals. Granted, for me it was because I was visiting doctors routinely but I remember walking along a corridor in a hospital with my mother and feeling an incredible tightness in my chest and trying so hard not to cry. So yeah, visiting someone in the hospital might be tough for some kids.
May, that sounds awful. My epilepsy means I’m in and out of hospital consultations etc, and rather than getting used to hospitals, I’ve got to the point that I hate them, I get nervous before going in. And I’m an adult.
It really depends on the age and personality of each child. For some, seeing Mom hooked up to unfamiliar tubes or a monitor can be terrifying. Children who have bad associations with a hospital (like a grandparent going in and dying) might assume that mom will die, too. I actually think that these are actually great opportunities for learning and demystifying hospitals so they don’t become sources of trauma later, but again, those are common fears that children might have.
I think the biggest factor is not about children at all but about the patient. I’ve only been in hospital overnight once, but I didn’t feel like having to see people and put on my game face or make awful small talk about the food. I didn’t want even my close friends or even my family to visit me at all. I wanted to read, relax, and heal by myself. And when several people ignored those requests, I can tell you that the dread and anxiety for those people foisting themselves on me, however pure their intentions were, was far worse than any procedure I endured. Just because you love someone does not mean that you want them to be around you at your most vulnerable.
All this to say: Kate might well have preferred to chat via FaceTime with her kids instead of having them visit, especially with a crush of press outside. She can control what they see of her, it can be short and at a convenient time, and she can ask them about their days, their friends, and keep things light and on her own terms. It’s sometimes the only thing you can be in charge of if you are in hospital.
When I was around 15 my mum spent 3 months in a hospital: she didn’t want me to visit. My dad thought it was a good idea to “surprise her” so we went.
I was older then Kate’s kids but it wasn’t a nice day for me, I didn’t see anything traumatising but I wasn’t comfortable at all.
Then there’s something else: we don’t know why Kate was hospitalised, and the more they stress ” not life treating/not important procedure” the more they convince me of the exact opposite, and I think that maybe Kate is the one who is not at ease seeing people, even her kids. Everyone has the right to deal with the health related issues in his/her own way, I don’t think there is a right or a wrong approach.
Hi Eleonor. That’s a really interesting read and thanks for sharing. How they deal with this issue with their kids is their own. I agree. Also, what you say about the press going on about the kids – yes, it is drawing attention to another version of her hospital attendance and therefore backfiring.
If there’s a tight parental-child bond, not seeing one’s parent is far more traumatic. It’s not like the royals are placed in some grim ward next to other patients, separated by a flimsy curtain. They are housed in luxury made to look like a swanky hotel room.
Children are allowed to see family members. The Clinic’s own policy made that clear. This attempt to make these kids so fragile that they’ll fall apart if inside a hospital vs. visiting their sick mum isn’t a good look or spin.
I routinely visited my father in hospital when I was young. He had high blood pressure and a weak vein in his sinuses that would pop from time to time. He had such bad nose bleeds he had to have his sinuses packed full of stuff and IVs of clotting agents and antibiotics for several weeks before he could be released. I wasn’t traumatized at all. There’s still something completely fishy about this, if her kids couldn’t visit her, could it be that she sustained some visible injuries? Just sayin’…
Not defending them in any way… but.. as a mom I’d be ok with my kids not visiting me. Just because I wouldn’t want to make them nervous about my health (I’d do FaceTime and stuff).. and so they didn’t have to see me like that.
Then again, I know I’d want to see them… so…
Exactly, Maria. Families differ. My kids don’t come to visit me in hospital sometimes. Only she and William and their kids will understand the dynamics involved.
Then again, other kids are more reassured when they see their sick mum in person, which is why you do see children visiting. My youngest visited his brother when he was pretty sick in the hospital and threw tantrum every time we left him behind. Normally, they fight like cats and dogs. Go figure.
I have to ask – is this the same patient with abdominal surgery at the London Clinic that they used last article? Or did People just put out a Craigslist ad for anyone who has had abdominal surgery at the clinic?
Or….is it all made up?!?! (gasp! shocking!)
The kids not visiting makes the most sense so I agree that it also makes sense that’s the question People is going to answer. And look, finally! they’re facetiming her! This is the PR narrative that should have been put out 10 days ago, not after Kate has returned home.
KP really messed this up and its been fascinating to watch it unfold in real time.
Yeah, I can understand the kids not visiting but like you said @becks1, this is the narrative that could’ve been put out 10 days ago. It still feels like they’re on the back-step and reacting to everything. As if a KP staffer goes online to read the chatter and then they put out an article to counter specific narratives.
I wonder how much of the chaos here is really just because Kate’s team was indisposed for a while and Will’s was in charge and, well, we see the results.
& I agree, @Jais, it’s an extremely reactive narrative. It’s like KP has been sleepwalking through a very routine campaign, days or weeks late with simple statements that would have allayed a lot of this wild speculation. I wonder if they really thought this would inspire a Princess Di-level outpouring of support for Kate and when that didn’t happen and largely nobody (except ironically Sussex Squad) said a peep, they just didn’t know what to do.
I also find it interesting that Kate’s is now the third “abdominal surgery” in the royal family – the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, and now Kate. I do wonder how the royals landed on ‘abdominal’ as an acceptable disclosure. “Health problems again, can’t tell them it’s serious, can’t say it’s a nip tuck gone wrong… I’ve got it, let’s go with abdominal! Vague yet serious sounding enough, can morph into cancer or a stomach bug depending on what we need!”
I am mystified by their use of the general “abdominal” term. I mean… is it bowel surgery or rectal surgery, but they don’t want us thinking that specifically about Kate’s nether regions? Possibly. Whatever part is involved, seems to me if the surgery were planned and no big deal, the kids would have visited with flowers. (And there would have been no engagements made which would then need to be canceled.) I feel like something really awful must have happened, and they are trying to cover it up.
With each article – the more it seems like a lie. The more mystery there is to it. The more curious I become about it.
They are just making it seem so damn shady.
The truth will come out. But I have no idea what it will be.
But if kp stooges are trying to put it to rest – they’ve done a terrible job
So true. I had lost interest with the death of the old queen, and the Sussexes leaving. It seems like the ones left aren’t worth paying attention to. But then this. KP has mishandled the press releases on this so badly…Maybe they did this on purpose: not the health problem whatever it may or may not be, but the odd handlling of it. Would they purposely play games wiith information disclosure in order to recapture attention that had drifted…
Watch it come out later that Kate had been on Wood Farm under care the whole time. I could see them doing something like that to keep her and the narrative under control.
Keep her under control, sure, but if they’re not keeping the narrative under control at all. It’s a bleeping mess. Even if/when it comes out what went on with K, no one will believe it at this point.
I wonder if they even realize the barrage of questions Kate is going to get once she finally appears in public. If they think the speculation now is intrusive, just wait; it’s just getting started.
Weird story continues to be weird.
I agree that this is the one part that makes sense (if we’re taking the general story at face value). While this fancy clinic won’t have the feel of any of the large NHS hospitals I’ve visited I can see an argument being made to not take the children to see her there. They are young and if she did have various bags and tubes attached to her I can understand wanting to keep them away from that and just do video calls. But again, why not mention that? “Kate is regularly chatting with the kids on facetime and it’s really helping her keep her sprits up.”
My tired brain skipped over the specific facetime reference in the story (thanks two-day migraine) but I still feel they could be saying more to make all this seem normal/nothing to see here.
So, which is it? Was it “make more of a big thing of it than it already was” or was it a serious surgery requiring almost two weeks of hospital stay and almost 5 months of recovery? I have questions…
Exactly. If it’s not a big deal, then what kind of procedure needs nearly half the year to recover? I can’t think of anything that would take that long to recuperate. Why does William also need to disappear for months as well?
Exactly. Yesterday there was a story that said they were unsure if Kate would be well enough to see her mother on her mother’s birthday. Now this story says it was no big deal. They aren’t even trying to make it make sense.
I see no problem with this; they’re her (and his) kids to understand, if you get what I mean. My kids have chosen not to visit me in hospital at times. Families differ.
They had no problem dragging their kids to Lindo Wing in front of thousands of cameras even though the kids were younger and she didn’t even stay in hospital for more than a day. But now her kids are older and she stayed in hospital for 14 days, yet the Middleton and her kids didn’t even bother to visit her? Make it make sense.
There’s a big difference between being post delivery and being post op a major surgery
@mjane -exactly. I could absolutely see not wanting to let your kids see you hooked up to a bunch of machines and recovering from major surgery, likely groggy on medication and in pain, then leaving you at the hospital.
There is a *huge* difference between that experience and watching mom leave the hospital after a successful birth.
So where’s her mother, her sister, her HUSBAND??? Most people understand the kids not visiting. But no one else??
Also how are they face timing her if she’s hooked up to machines and groggy? Plus what kind of “machines” would Kate be hooked up to, unless she’s on life support? You have an IV for pain medicine and a catheter. Even a colostomy bag would be hidden by your gown. This whole story is fishy as hell. One minute she won’t be seen for months, the next she is sitting up in bed ready to get to work. I guess dishonesty is the best policy for that bunch.
@Becks – Im of the opinion that she was in and out of the hospital before they announced anything, so we didnt see any coming or going because she wasnt there anymore
@Slush I think that’s what happened too. If she was ever there, it was before anything was announced.
If she she was ever there…look, I’m at the point where I don’t believe anything. Was she ever sick? Was she ever even in the hospital? Maybe she just needed a break so they came up with abdominal surgery? If it’s all true and she’s seriously sick or even moderately sick, or having MH issues, I do wish her a healthy recovery but everything is so fishy and the messaging is all over the place. It’s so bad that it’s making Camilla look good and that’s just unconscionable. Sorry, but sometimes my tinsel tiara just comes out.
Seward doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Imo She’s busy promoting her new book about charles.
I do think she had surgery but they are lying about it being planned and also when she had surgery. I believe that the day william was photographed visiting her, she had already left the hospital and he was there to pick up some of her things.
I don’t believe she at Adelaide either. She’s probably somewhere in a facility.
Kate went off the rails last year in many different ways. Whatever is wrong with her was definitely already going on when she showed up at Rose’s concert or whatever. Remember how stoned and weird and sort of lonely she looked in that photo? She was supposed to be with friends, but instead she looked like an interloper to me. Anyway, I still can’t get over the idea that Kate was in the hospital for two weeks and not one Middleton visited her. Neither of her parents were seen going into the hospital? I just can’t believe that. I’ve been royal watching for a long time and I can’t believe any of this. The kids….okay, whatever. But Mike and Carole and Pippa and James are certainly old enough to be allowed into the hospital.
Just think how different Chucks hospital stay has – all transparent, seen arriving/leaving/wife visiting.
Kate’s situation is a massive mess and cover up. I really hope she is fine.
I don’t pay a lot of close attention to her, but even I noticed that every outing she had in the second half of last year had her looking more unhinged — hair messier, makeup a little off, manic behavior, etc. I suspect whatever is going on with her has been building for a while.
The kids not visiting was the only plausible part of the whole story. It was William and the Middletons not visiting (or visiting using an Invisibility Cloak) that was sketchy. My kids are 10 and 7 and they would not be ok with not seeing me for 2 weeks. I’m their main parent so any break would be very hard on them. We could do Facetime for the first bit but assuming I was recovering from my surgery then I would have them come (having prepped them beforehand as to what expect). I could see how visiting a parent that was unconscious or had visible trauma to them from a car accident etc would be terrifying but thats not what the story is here according to KP. What I also found strange was the lack of the typical royal fluff pieces about the kids sending drawings etc with William to decorate her room and cheer her up. And frankly did we ever get a story about Facetime at the time? This is just more KP clean up. They are so bad at this.
This is definitely cleanup, but it’s a quick ‘throw everything in the closet & under the bed’ kind of cleanup.
That BW Xmas photo remains so weird. I originally thought PWT was photo-shopped in, but I’m now thinking K was. Her extra long arm around George is definitely photo-shopped, and the hard line between her arm and Will is too stark/sharp compared to the edges of all the other shirts.
@Seaflower, what does PWT mean? I haven’t been able to figure that one out.
If I may, ‘Penis With Teeth’.
Someone (I think it was @Mary Pester) called him that because of the weird shape of his head and big teeth and it stuck LOL!.
I don’t know, when I had my hysterectomy both of my kids visited me. They were 10 and 8, the same age as George and Charlotte. I was in there for a week. They didn’t seem “traumatized”, we actually walked around and sat in the atrium for a bit. The nurses made sure I walked everyday as I recovered from my “abdominal surgery”. My kids seemed relieved to know I was ok and would be coming home in a few days. This whole situation is fishy but its not my family so whatever. Kate has all kinds of resources and won’t have to worry about a big hospital bill at the end of it.
Honestly hospitals can be a bit scary but it’s also reassuring for kids to see mom and know she will be ok.
You had to stay in the hospital for a week for a hysterectomy? That sounds like a long time. I’m so sorry and hope you are well now.
I was in for a week — couldn’t have a laparoscopy and there were some complications.
Same here, l had complications post surgery for a conventional hysterectomy and was in the hospital for a week with at home care that kept me out of work for three months. It was rough.
Same @Jaded. I had scar tissue from a previous surgery so they did an abdominal incision instead of laparoscopy and that takes longer to heal.
I wouldn’t want my small kids to visit me in the hospital tbh. I literally hate the hospital though.
ditto.
I think the point is that families are different. Some kids may not want to visit whereas some kids do want to visit. Some kids may find it scary but some may not and would instead prefer to see their parent. Either’s okay.
Exactly, either is ok.
The issue with the Wails and the kids is the muddles communications around it. No mention of the kids visiting/facetiming/making cards/anything until it blew up on social media. Their whole ‘oh it wasn’t a big deal, so they didn’t visit’ explanation WEEKS later flies in the face of saying it was a big deal and ‘pray for kate’ and a two-week post-op stay in hospital along with months of time off so that K can recuperate. It doesn’t make sense, so people are questioning everything.
Yes, same @tigermcqueen. It’s the no big deal nothing to see here vibe v the pray for Kate vibe. It’s becoming meaningless. And maybe that’s what KP wants idk?
It’s funny that her kids didn’t bother to write letters and make cards for their mother! I remember their ridiculous stunt in 2021, right after the Oprah interview, when KP posted on social media that cards with the kids’ handwriting for their late grandmother, whom they didn’t know and had never met. I wonder why they didn’t do the same for their mother, who lives with them and they know her.
It is odd. The wails never hesitated to display artwork and hand made cards by their children
Do you know what’s more traumatizing? Not seeing your Mom for 2 weeks and not knowing what is wrong with her because no one is telling you the truth.
I totally agree. Kids can sometimes handle the truth better than adults. Yet adults prefer to say nothing to protect them. Kids can feel when something is wrong and are more distressed about the things kept secret.
I was such an anxious kid this would have totally freaked me out. Not seeing my mom & not knowing why?? Just some vague, ‘she’ll be home soon; well, not soon, but in a couple of weeks’. And if I could FaceTime, I’d be asking, why can’t I visit? And People saying the kids ‘didn’t make the trip’ to see their mom—Windsor to this clinic is hardly ‘a trip’, it’s just London, for heaven’s sake! They’re used to car rides.
It is so similar to Charlene of Monaco mysterious situation
At least Albert took the kids to see her, even though it was in a foreign country. I think its more upsetting for the kids to not know their parent is ok.
No one is that curious about the kids going or not. When do we get the article about why the Middletons didn’t visit? Grown adults who have constantly shown up to the openimg of an envelope where their royal daughter is concerned, are now MIA. That is the key to what actually happened to Kate and where she is and when it all went down.
My question as well. Sure William does not care and the kids could be traumatized by the hospital visit or used to joint custody.
But where are the Midds? Are they siding with William and showing it? Or they are mad at what Kate did? If so, what did she do, and to whom? Herself, William, the kids? I feel bad for writing the last one.
I notice the KP minions haven’t touched those questions. I guess checks still need to be cut, scripts written and contracts signed before statements can be made.
The Midds are persona non grata around the royals these days. I think they were threatened NOT to show up or some shady stuff would be revealed. The war of the Wales is just teetering on the brink of blowing up publicly.
They didn’t have the kids visit because she wasn’t there. They dragged small kids for photo opps when Kate gave birth and stayed in the hospital for ONE day. And like others my mom had a full hysterectomy and my brother and I (9 and 11) visited her during her 5 day stay (this was before insurance companies had their “pump and dump” inpatient policies). You cant control kids and they didn’t want one of them telling a school
Mate
It’s not about photo ops or visits from small children, it’s about basic communication. Nobody is asking for medical disclosures or video feeds from Kate’s hospital bed. In what world does a competent comms team wait 2 weeks to say that a mother facetimed her children?
Either they’re playing games or they’re completely incompetent, or an unfortunate combination of the two.
Someone on twitter posted headlines through the years of Kate being ‘missing’ for weeks, sometimes months at a time. So, this isn’t necessarily a break from the norm; the only differences here are the announcement and the alleged surgery. However, I think that during those other lulls Kate was still getting a fair amount of press. Yesterday she wasn’t on a single UK front page, and it’s been that way a lot. The tabloids treated her like the most popular girl in class and then it’s like all of a sudden they forgot she even went to their school.
Kaiser mentioned yesterday that Kate went “missing” for 11 weeks in 2021 and the british press barely said a word. And we know she usually disappears from Wimbledon to September (which tends to be around 8 weeks) and the press doesnt say a peep about it.
Here, had she not done an event from Christmas through Easter…I do think some eyebrows would have been raised, just because that tends to be a busier time for the royals (February through April), but their minions in the rota could have kept it quiet or made up an excuse to cover for it. Or they could have had her do several visits over November/December/first part of January so they could release pictures throughout the next two months and people probably wouldn’t have noticed that the events were from months ago.
I think had she even done an event between christmas and the surgery they could have pulled off her absence without saying anything. William did that one random event.
so basically there were a lot of ways for KP to get around people asking questions about where Kate is. The fact that they didn’t tells me they really didn’t expect this long absence/surgery.
I agree they could have pulled off her absence had they done just a few things differently. I guess I would argue that even during those usual absences, the Kate machine was still up and running with basic coverage to an extent, it wasn’t just total silence like we saw here.
I wonder what was different about this time behind the scenes that made them go with the announcement. The only options I can come up with are (1) they truly panicked because it was serious and unexpected and now that she’s out of the woods they’re sort of walking it all back, or (2) they thought they could inspire Meghan-esque “where is she??” interest like we see from SS members all the time, except it backfired spectacularly.
I think the reason why the statement have been vague about when she might return are because something came up that made her just being away for most of January (which is usual) not possible anymore.
And now they are hinting that she won’t be seen until the trooping in June and making excuses for the lack of visits by the kids and it is just making everything look far worse than it could be.
I think it’s obvious if they knew she would be back at around two months, they wouldn’t have made any announcement. They could have just planted stories about K doing something for the kids like always.
Something forced KP’s hand in making the statement about her surgery. It was either a ‘planned’ procedure that more intense than expected, or it was an emergency (a bad one) and they’re lying about the whole ‘abdominal part’. Regarding the vagueness around her return, I honestly think the folks at KP don’t know when she’ll be back to her duties if ever. And I think that’s why they’ve had such a difficult time framing the communications, because they don’t KNOW what’s going to happen.
And I know Will is a giant f*** up, but he’s not usually so inept as this. His saying he was going to wait to resume duties while she was sick and his continuing absence from the public eye tells me whatever is wrong with K, it has repercussions for him as well.
My mother was in a very bad car accident when I was 10 and you’d better believe I went to the hospital to see her? This is all bizarre.
It could cause more trauma to the children not to see her.
I totally agree with this. Certainly George and Charlotte could have visited her.
KP just needs to get its story straight, once and for all. Was this a major surgery or no big deal? If it was no big deal, why isn’t William working? Where are the Middletons, Carole especially?
I’m still guessing she had abdominal surgery because of an ED at the London Clinic, followed by intensive therapy somewhere else, where visitors weren’t allowed.
Was she ever in the hospital or are they covering something else? I can’t wait to see how they are going to get out of whatever is being covered.
Put the question of “should the kids visit?” aside. We have had no photo of Kate yet since this story broke. Not in 2 weeks. If this was no big deal, why hasn’t she let herself be seen? That could be done without releasing any details about her health. So this isn’t a matter of the details are embarrassing/private.
I can explain away the lack of visits from people; maybe Kate prefers to FaceTime because she can control when the visits happen.
But I cannot explain why she would not let herself be seen. If she is anywhere near ok, she would show it. She is either not okay, or okay but injured in such a way as to make it obvious she didn’t have abdominal surgery.
This is clearly no ploy to stall divorce at this point. Pics would’ve happened by now if so.
It is dire. Or it is a non-dire issue that obviously isn’t what they said. Which leads to questions:
If it’s dire, what happened, where is she, and why lie? Or If it’s non-dire and they lied about what it is, what happened, and why lie?
What happened and why lie remain the main questions.
This is what is odd especially because they keep saying abdominal surgery. Why not see her in the car leaving the hospital? They could have had her enter the vehicle before they pulled out and be seen similar to when Camilla visited one day and used the back entrance.
Children are not permitted to visit at the London Clinic. I had surgery there and my child was not allowed up to my room. It is their policy stated on their website. That said, I did not have a long stay and I am not a royal who could have made a special request, if that was something she wanted. Random aside: my kid can not even enter the other private hospital in London I have attended for doctor appointments. No kids.
But their website also specifically says that permission will be granted for children to visit in certain situations. If W&K wanted their kids to visit her, they would have been allowed to visit her.
I’m not questioning your personal experience, but the royal family’s entire schtick is not being treated like normal people, it’s literally their whole reason for existence.
Ocho. My personal experience, as well. Private hospitals run to different visiting systems – sometimes – re kids. As you say, tho, there’s no way they couldn’t have pulled strings. I don’t really “worry” about her kids not going. The mum is the strange one.
They might have wanted to pull strings if the point of not allowing children is to avoid exposure to infection. It’s not because it’s scary or they’re disruptive, though I’m sure that’s a consideration. It’s clearly stated.
BQM This is a good point. I’ve had more tests for MRSA in private hospitals than anywhere else. Could be tho that I’ve had more recent stays at private hospitals and recent experience is overshadowing my conclusions. But, yes, I can see this totally.
Idk, they have the whole royal wing at that hospital. Other than Charles, it was empty.
Right now England, including the London area, is dealing with huge surges in measles and whooping cough as well as scabies, believe it or not. Brits are being encouraged not to use public transportation. Wastewater shows Covid levels higher than at some points of the pandemic, reaching 6.1% in some areas of London, with a lag in boosters. In January, 1 in 24 people in England and Scotland were reported to have Covid mostly the new JN-1 variant. And it’s RSV season. There are a lot of reasons not to visit. Especially kids—they can be walking little germ factories. Could even be why we didn’t see Carole though she could’ve always been laying low. We just had a post here about her avoiding any public appearances.
Nah. The whole no children for fear of dangerous contagion excuse is just a ruse. Look the royals don’t need to mingle with the public if they don’t want to.
Measles, RSV, flu, Covid are of great concerns for the rest of us. The Wales live in a privileged bubble. A blessed bubble.
This zombie fear is a ruse to excuse. It’s clashing with how well geriatric (and recovering) Charles and Camilla are seen hale and hearty in public.
I mean, people are getting really ill and some are dying. Camilla doesn’t need permission to visit. The kids do. I can see the matron declining if public health is at the point they’re saying don’t ride on public transport. 🤷
One big gap in the discussion that’s missing is
“Prince William visits his dad in hospital after seeing his wife “. Why wouldn’t William (he who puts on a high-vis vest for 10 minutes to pretend he’s selling homeless charity magazines), pose on the steps of the hospital and give a brief “they’re both doing well “ comment. He wants to be seen as a statesman and leader, this was a missed opportunity- if he was ever really there!!
We have two mysteries. The surgery & the missing Prince. A very strange strategy.
Prince William is not putting himself in any situation where he would be expected to make a statement about his wife. It’s a choice.
And it could be so simple — a “Thanks for your concern, she’s doing well but she wishes us all to respect her privacy at this time so I will not be commenting further on her surgery”.
I can understand children not visiting, I can’t understand why her husband, her parents, her sister, her brother or even her new friend Rose didn’t.
I understand her kids not visiting more that her mother not visiting. Absolutely no plausible reason / excuse for that.
There is one plausible reason; she is out of the country.
Yeah honestly that’s what I’m starting to think. She is and has been nowhere near that hospital and her mother is with her.
Agreed. I 100% believe she was never at that hospital, or perhaps she was there briefly long before the public was notified. There is literally no way that the paps or public didn’t get any photographic evidence.
And now we have shifted the conversation about whether kids can be at the hospital or not- ANOTHER DISTRACTION.
I think she has been at a hospital/treatment center out of the country, or she returned to the MIddletons after being at a hospital/treatment center.
What I can’t figure out is why Wills is also missing?? Is he just a lazy arse or is it something more sinister?
The storm about the kids not visiting passes me by. They can be facetimed – not quite the same, but maybe what they want. The mum is however odd – perhaps she was sneaked in. Then again, there’s no way in hell that woman wouldn’t want to be seen doing anything royal related.
Blah, blah, blah, more word salad to try and gaslight the masses. I’m sick of the bullsht from these idiots, I wonder if the day will ever come when an HONEST reporter says, we haven’t written about it because we don’t know anything. Doubt the papers would print it though. I also strongly suspect that they are writing bullsht every day to try and make it an international event when she does (if) she does re appear
It will never stop, and it’ll never be honest. One of her Telegraph acolytes (could it be Pearson) tried to make out it’s a hernia. I think Kate is desperate this isn’t seen as bowels (which is her choice) – possibly it embarrasses her or ages her in her mind- and is leaning on her friends in the press to write up other causes.
Ah, the musings of Ingrid Seward. At no place in the article is there a link to a reliable source. If this article were about Meghan, you’d rightly be reading it more critically.
Kate managed to get in the hospital, have major surgery, and get out again. There have been no leaks about anything happening a different way, what the problem was, etc. KP is sealed as tight as a drum and there’s no information floating around from anyone who knows anything. Speculate all you want but that’s all anyone is doing
I understand where you’re coming from. There is so much double guessing around this, particularly over her kids.. The kids thing really gets to me. The no-shows could be that they managed, as only they could (or the hugely rich could), to get her kids there and back without observation, or not. They’re her kids, we shouldn’t be bothered about them. At some point we have to remember that these royal press leeches have to put bread on the table; either they write puff pieces with subtle royal encouragement or they just rumble stuff around in their empty heads and get it on paper. And in comes the money.
These royals aren’t ashamed about using their young kids to excuse or justify their poor behaviors. We’ve seen this over and over.
Sure the Rota sports a bunch of leeches. What does that make actual family members? What’s worse than leeches? (BTW, leeches have beneficial uses. Leeches exude anti-coagulant compound and have been used in muscle flap reconstructive surgery to keep local blood vessels opened so the flap has a better chance to take.) Humans don’t need to be like leeches. They just have to be human.
So their plan is to saturate the rota with fakes stories until the point when one of rats actually get the story right, it won’t be worth a damn.
Everyone deserves one another in this.
They have to fill the airwaves/column inches, with or without any input from KP. I’d think everyone here knows the drill
Facelift? Which is why she doesn’t want the kids to see her? Or anybody else for that matter?
There will be huge criticism if she emerges with an obvious facelift. People will have zero sympathy after all the ‘William at home to care for her’ and she’s ‘off work (ha ha) till Easter’ stories. Let’s see what happens! I’m still convinced it was bowel surgery.
Strangely, still no sympathy.
LOL. Perhaps it ran away with mine, which is also among the missing?
I don’t see the purpose of this article because it only reminds everyone that the kids didn’t see their mother in person for several weeks after a serious operation. Also who is this random guy who keeps providing opinions about abdominal surgery and now visitation privileges for children? Is it Jason Knauf?
What is very odd is that this is coming from People magazine which always has sanctioned stories from the parties involved. So the question is who decided this was a good story to approve?
I wonder if its because the US press isn’t as accepting of the “medical privacy, nothing to see here, situation normal” story from KP as the british press? So this is trying to provide some cover in the US? I know a lot of people – royal followers, non followers, Kate fans, Meghan fans etc – who are like “what is going on??” even if they dont really “care” its a conversation, you know?
The US press isn’t part of the Rota, so far harder to control foreign press outside the UK. That’s why the European gossip pages have gone nuts. With social media, the wild speculations fueled by the palace’s own obsfucation and confusion made the story a global blockbuster for the royal soap opera channels.
This story provides many , including C&C, with golden opportunities to make hay. So yeah, it won’t be a restful 4-5 months for the Wales. And they did it to themselves.
Sure sounding more and more likely that Mommy had a breakdown.
For sure, very similar to Charlene, Princess of Monaco story 😏
Why didn’t we see photos of her adoring fans at the hospital and piles of flowers? So weird.
The more they don’t say anything the weirder it gets.
I imagine it is hard to get bots as a crowd. Lately, they were visiting places where there is already a crowd and acting like they were there for them.
I get the children not visiting, hospitals can be scary. I do not get William not visiting more and I certainly do not get the middletons not visiting even once. If she was never at the hospital to begin with during the time frame we got that could be an explanation but I would expect the middletons to help will with the cover up. Carol was never shy of getting her photo taken before and if it was to either help kate or will she would do that for sure. So either things are serious and she is with kate and doesn’t want to leave or can’t because it’s too far away or she is being absent on purpose. Is she mad att kate for messing up the plan(if divorce speculations are true) or at will for not treating kate well?
This is a serious question and I know it doesn’t matter and whatever but I have been wondering since news of Charles’ “visit” came out. If you are on the hospital and presumably bedridden after major surgery, do you have to curtsy to the King? Did she have to get out of bed and her makeup on, etc and sit in a chair to welcome him? And did she have to curtsy?
My father in law visited me in the hospital years ago and I realized after he left my boob had been visible from the hospital gown the whole time and I had no idea. But he’s not the king of England.
This reminds me of the story of the late queen visiting the dying Duke of Windsor at his home in France. He was very weak and hooked up to tubes and IV lines, but insisted on being dressed and sitting in a chair to greet the queen, and had his staff conceal the medical paraphernalia as much as possible. I doubt he was even in the condition to stand up and bow to her. I believe he died not long after that visit. If Kate were truly bedridden and weakened, I would hope she wasn’t put in that similar situation. But if well enough to sit in a chair, then I don’t see what the problem is as long as she didn’t have to get up and curtsy with an abdominal incision, if that was the case.
Makes me glad that I’m Jewish; we are against monarchies and definitely against bowing and curtsying to human beings. I’m agnostic, but sometimes religion is useful. Yeah, we’ve had monarchs (David and Solomon) centuries ago, but that’s because we’ve made mistakes. Technically, Judaism strongly opposes monarchies and even more strongly opposes bowing or curtsying to human beings.
I’m in Canada and anti-monarchy. Years ago, Queen Elizabeth and her husband visited my Canadian city. Us schoolchildren were supposed to practice bowing and curtsying. Even then, I thought: “It degrades women; I won’t curtsy to anyone.” Anyway, I refused to do anything of the sort (and so did some other children who also sensed that it was demeaning). There is something WRONG with bowing and curtsying to anyone; it’s demeaning to women.
I think it’s something they didn’t want the kids to see (because kids blab). So maybe Kate has cancer and lost her hair – that would keep her out of commission for months until her hair grows back (she would never be seen without it). Or she looks bad and it would scare the kids.
Not sure what you are referencing. Kate has been wearing wigs for quite some time. Kate used to just wear extensions; but she’s been wearing wigs for quite some time. So there’s no reason why Kate couldn’t make “Royal Appearances” wearing a wig.
JMO, this has been handled so badly from a PR angle.
One photo w/William, Kate + kids would put all the gossip to rest.
Surely stylists and makeup team could get Kate looking well enough for a b&w photo.
Propped up in bed, headshots even at a distance would work for a PR photo.
PP was in his ’90’s and hospitalized and a quick pic from a distance, waving was released.
It can’t be a facelift or plastic surgery, that could take place during any vacation they take.
I do not care for the speculation that Kate has had a mental breakdown.
Diana and M both had so much they went thru. Even Charlene of Monaco.
It seems wrong completely for any shaming or speculating about mental health in our current difficult world.
When it comes to the Windsors, it’s all on them. They were abusive to these women. And Harry. It’s downright evil. They used the press to stamp the narrative that people who have mental health needs are weak, are dangerous, and useless. You can see the royals fear being called crazy worse than being a rapist or a pedophile. These people act like psychopaths. That’s how cray-cray the whole institution is. Abetted by the British press.
I don’t even care about the hypocrisy charge since these royals supposedly champion mental health care. They are hypocrites. Period. That’s the least worst thing they are TBH.
Each successive story appears to be a clean-up. I believe she had some kind of abdominal surgery. I know the palace and RR make up stories out of whole cloth, but this would be too appalling if it were to be disproved later on. Whether or not Kate had other things done is also a question though. There’s a little thought at the back of my mind, that if William is physically violent, what’s to say that he doesn’t progress from emotional abuse to physical abuse? There’s the old story of a teen-aged William physically pushing his mother around.
Eff William and Carole, if someone said my kids couldn’t visit me in hospital I would leave. Get this catheter out of me, I’m leaving.
This entire story is bizarre. At least the kids weren’t trotted out for the ROTA rats daily, which the Wales have a history of doing to deflect media to the obvious discomfort of their children. The Wales have no PR instincts. During the same time frame the rats repeated the lies about QE being upset about Lilibet’s name. Harry got away from the mess. Leave his family alone. And. Don’t use your own kids as shields either and don’t trot them out to repair the pr mess this weird cover-up has created.
Will and his comms people shouldn’t have used the kids at all. Why bring them up for the Rota. The problem is W&K have never been shy in using their children in press to make excuses or justify their bad behaviors. This has been an overused tactic by the Fails with the press, so not a surprise, the kids are part of the discussion.
This is on K&W. It’s a Windsors’ trademark on bad parenting. There’s probably a royal HMG warrant/patent for this somewhere.
All these conspiracy theories! It reminds me of when I had an unexpected operation and asked my boss to keep it private. One malicious woman spread rumors that I was having a mental breakdown after a failed relationship. It was bizarre as I had not been in a relationship and never confided any personal details to her but the story fed her need for drama and attention. She was so disappointed when I returned and explained I had had surgery.
Yes, and a capable boss would get HR to nip that and make it clear stuff like that isn’t work.
However, in Kate’s case, her people and husband created this fiasco. They deliberately worked with the Rota to place the breadcrumbs to misdirect, to create confusion. They didn’t have to discuss timeline of her return right off the bat. Smarter and more protective actions would be to release matter of fact news in timely manner while reading the room and then adjust accordingly. Instead they panicked which is why you see this mess.
They didn’t need to give away Kate’s medical secret, but because the way they handled this affair, it has turned IT into a global mystery. And fueling gossips which drives profits. See how that works. And getting beat badly by of all people, Cam.
I don’t think anyone knows that breadcrumbs were placed to misdirect or if she was visited by her parents and husband who could have used a back entrance to avoid the press. Keeping her children out makes a lot of sense having been through similar situations with a family member who was seriously ill and had a young child.
What seems most likely is that the illness was sudden, serious enough to keep her hospitalized, warrants a long recovery and that she doesn’t want to share details. All the rest is needlessly speculative and some of it is just cruel.
That is awful, SSF. There’s always someone who’ll wade into the vacuum, spreading gossip.
I wonder if she didn’t have a liver transplant necessitated by either an intentional or unintentional OD—latter of which can be as simple as too much Tylenol and alcohol in the right context.
This would explain the “planned yet sudden” timing. Additionally, to protect both her and the donor’s family confidentiality, the precise timing would need to be a bit squishy, otherwise it’s way too easy to triangulate the donor to the recipient eg “Did you hear about Tom’s son’s motorbike accident? Poor chap, but at least his liver lives on in the future queen!”
It would also explain the extreme caution with visitors— transplant recipients are intentionally very immunosuppressed until the team gets the dosing etc just right for the individual patient, and kids are walking Petri dishes.
You can reverse a Tylenol OD. We’ve treated that before in the ER, often in children because parents misjudge dosage. You don’t need a whole liver either to live. We do liver resection due to traumatic injury and people donate part of their liver for those in need. Liver can generate.
Plus a healthy liver available for transplant doesn’t just pop up at your convenience, unless you bought a harvested organ illegally.
Yes you can reverse an OD but, as you must know, not always. At any one time there is a subset of people on liver waiting list due to irreversible acute liver failure. Yes to resecting and split liver transplants—again not always especially the split livers. This is all besides the point anyway
I believe the answer to the children not visiting lies in the children themselves. Face timing is the only way they can see her and not know where she is. Kids talk. Can’t have them going to school and spilling the beans as if they have been able to see her in person.
KP has turned this situation into a runaway beer truck: out of control. Conspiracy theories abound because of the two weeks of sloppiness. No wonder Meghan didn’t get along with KP staff; they prove they are incompetent.
Folks, transplanting a major organ like a liver means that person has a failing organ. And yes, that means kate would be out of commission long before this sudden surgery. She certainly wouldn’t be going to all the Christmas shindigs. Or state dinner or flashing way too much legs at a state visit.
These attempts to explain the lack of children or adult visitors don’t hold well because they aren’t necessary to begin with if KP and the ill-tempered Will exercised some PR common sense.
Anyway, it’s too late to undo the knot so it’s now cover up time. Meanwhile the fans are going for every excuse they can think of which only add more fuel to the firestorm.
I know it’s hard for some readers not to make these people’s lives like their own or part of their inner circle. But the fact is the royals live in a gilded bubble and are afford protection and care none of us here will ever received, short of being a mega billion lottery winner.
So yeah. Like all good mysteries, follow the money and avoid red herrings.
I’m not feeling the “she had a liver transplant” theory, but am an ICU doc — and yes, you can go into permanent, acute liver failure from a tylenol OD and require a transplant within days. You can also have idiopathic acute liver failure needing a transplant where a cause is never found. We get teenagers like this a few times a year — healthy, living their lives, over a few days develop acute liver failure which just started with some belly pain, never figure out the cause, transplant within a week and out of the hospital in a few weeks!
There’s the invisible contract’s unintended effect with the Rota which is why KP thought they were in control and safe with the press embargo and controlling the narrative initially. Yes, they were that cocky!
But this contract was always a deal with the devil. Plus there’s no news embargo with the foreign press and on social media. Or with C&C’s camp for that matter.
All of this has been a major, self induced royal crisis.
People are way smarter and given the sorry state of the kingdom aren’t buying the BS or paying much attention beyond tabloid fodder.
Well the kids are one thing and there is a valid explanation.
Her family, especially her mum, and her husband are another. What is the excuse there?