Princess Kate won’t go to Cape Town for Earthshot as she’s ‘prioritizing her recovery’

Last year around this time, the tabloids were quietly panicking, as was Team Middleton. You see, the Princess of Wales skipped her husband’s New York trip that fall, with the understanding that she would go to the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Singapore that November. Then royal reporters began openly discussing how Kate was not going to Singapore either. Suddenly, the conversation was: what’s going on in William and Kate’s marriage, why is Kate too lazy to support her husband, why is she a “reluctant traveler” all of a sudden? Team Middleton pushed back as best they could, and soon enough, the palace came up with an excuse for why Kate was skipping: George had a test and Kate had to support him! It was all bizarre.

Well, this year, there has been little to no energy directed towards “will Kate go to this year’s Earthshot Awards?” Given her months-long disappearance and the strange “cancer-free” video, most people assume that we will see very little of Kate from here on out. The royal reporters are getting updates on how William is flying supermodels into Cape Town though, so thankfully the Daily Mail gave us an update on whether Kate will come:

Prince William will be joined by a star-studded line-up of supermodels and TV stars for his solo trip to South Africa to host the Earthshot Prize ceremony. The Prince of Wales, 42, will head to Cape Town to oversee the Earthshot Prize Awards on November 6, joined by a host of famous faces including supermodels Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow.

The Earthshot Prize is one of the heir to the throne’s big ‘passion projects’ and looks to find and upscale positive solutions to the climate crisis in five key areas: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build A Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate.

Each year, the prince awards £5million in prize money to those offering pioneering solutions to the most pressing climate and environmental challenges facing the world today.

It is expected that Prince William will visit Cape Town without his wife Kate Middleton, who is prioritising her recovery after completing chemotherapy this year.

[From The Daily Mail]

GB News got the exact same update from the palace: “Notably, the Princess of Wales is not expected to join her husband in South Africa. She continues to prioritise her recovery after completing chemotherapy treatment.” So there you go. For what it’s worth, at no point did they actually say that Kate was expected to go this year. Unlike last year, when her attendance was widely expected. I also think Kate will be making a public outing next month, but it will be for Remembrance. She’ll go to the Remembrance festival/concert, probably, and definitely the Cenotaph. Those are the appearances people are “expecting” even if nothing has been confirmed. There will be a freakout in the British press if Kate skips Remembrance, but they’ve already done enough so that her non-attendance at Earthshot is no longer a big deal.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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73 Responses to “Princess Kate won’t go to Cape Town for Earthshot as she’s ‘prioritizing her recovery’”

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  1. Tessa says:

    He does not want her there.

    • Swaz says:

      I have always believed and still do that they’re on a trial separation 😎

      • Jaded says:

        I don’t think it’s a trial, it’s permanent. I used to think they’d divorce but Kate and Ma Midd clearly have some serious dirt on William and they’re holding it over his head. In other words, stay married or we dish because come hell or high water Kate’s going to be the next QC.

      • Megan says:

        I think William has little to no involvement in Earthshot so why should Kate bother to make the effort.

      • Unblinkered says:

        I, too, believe they’re permanently separated and have been for a long time. Why no divorce or at least an official announcement of the separation: well, anything from emotional blackmail by KM, to vengefully thwarting W’s plans to have a new life with another partner, to the UK government requesting a lid is kept on it for the sake of stability.

    • Tiny says:

      Translation: the divorcee ain’t invited

  2. Oh for goodness sake her recovery is the excuse for everything. Again I recovered quite nicely from chemo . Chemo for me personally was not a problem I still lived my life while on it. I shopped and got out and was still able to walk around like usual. Peg just doesn’t want to take her because these two are living apart and he is living his life. They should just announce that they are done and get it over with.

    • Interested Gawker says:

      I just don’t understand why WanK don’t just admit their marital issues and just get on with it. No one cares if they are separated or divorced/getting divorced. How much money has been wasted supporting their false narrative, on social media, in legal wrangling, in funding multiple households, travel back and forth pretending they still live together?

      • Dee(2) says:

        I said that a few weeks ago, I think they’re overestimating how much people would really care if they divorce. I know that they don’t want to do an entire sequel to war of the wales, but the media landscape is just not the same anymore. Yes the royalists will care that their perfect white couple aren’t together, and those Instagram influencers who hold up Kate to be some posh ideal will probably be sad but most other people will move on pretty quickly. Especially given the fact that they have the media in their back pocket. If they don’t want this to be a story for long it won’t be a story. The British media are the only ones who write stories about Harry and Meghan every single day anymore, if they wanted people not to pay attention to the fact that they are divorced it could happen.

      • Chloe says:

        They won’t say anything because it will ruin the whole “normal, wholesome, very middle class family” pr thing they have going on. Even if they did announce a separation and even if that was amicable, it would be enough to invite speculation and rumors and they simply don’t want that.

        I wonder if when the wales children grow up, they might spill the beans. I don’t think George will but Louis or Charlotte might.

        Whether they are separated or not, something is going on in that family

      • Genevieve says:

        As Chloe says, they can’t ruin their “model wholesome family” narrative. That’s literally they only thing they offer in return for their grants.

        And in addition, I’m pretty sure William would never be able to live with Harry’s family being more perfect than his own is (at least on paper).

      • Interested Gawker says:

        And they keep wanting it both ways. They muzzle the press yet still want people tittering about Big Blue going missing. They complain about media scrutiny while they continue to encourage these baseless divorce stories about H&M. They want to play ‘happy families’ but are visibly uncomfortable around each other. They want attention but disappear for weeks on end. They GET attention and then KP freaks out and acts so scolding and belligerent, people don’t want to interact with them anymore.

        They are too secretive and dishonest to ever gain a smidgen of the regard from the general public William seems to crave.

      • Where'sMyTiara says:

        At this point, the only reason I can think of, as to why they’re hiding the whole separation thing (albeit so badly it’s pretty much a universal open secret since the move to Adelaide Cottage), is this: Competition with the Sussexes.

        They might feel compelled to present a universal front – I mean think about it… they’ve spent nearly 10 years trying to drive H&M apart by any means possible. WanK literally turned “let’s attack Meghan and get the Sussexes to divorce” into a British cottage industry.

        And that initiative is failing at every turn. H&M are stronger together and hold each other up no matter what.

        WanK, or at least Kate, wants the kind of marriage the Sussexes have. It’s clear she doesn’t have that, and never did. Rather than admit failure they keep up a charade. I believe that in their heads, if they make the marital rupture public and a concrete fact, rather than speculation, to them that means the Sussexes “won”. And the Waleses can’t have that! :eyeroll:

        I also think that Huevo wants to keep using Huesa as cover for his actual extra-curricular amorous activities. Nothing winds him up faster than public scrutiny and criticism. Look at what came his way in the beginning of the year before the palaces decided to protect the royal racists with the double cancer storyline. Rumors of his cheating with women, with men… speculation about Christian Jones and why he and his father protected CJ at the expense of Harry and the Sussexes’ safety, and the many strings of connections between Huevo and infamous blackmailer Dan Wooton.

        Publicly holding onto their marriage keeps most of that talk out of the Rota’s mouths. If the Waleses were to actually split, they know the BM would have a field day just as they did with Huevo’s parents. Neither W or K is strong enough to withstand that alone. They’re too thin-skinned. The Waleses are sticking together out of self-preservation and a deep fear of failure.

      • Interested Gawker says:

        “The Waleses are sticking together out of self-preservation and a deep fear of failure”

        I think this is true. Perversely, the longer they act like this the worse it will be when things inevitably hit the fan.

      • Becks1 says:

        I completely agree with both POVs here, lol. They are staying in their sham of a marriage because the happy family is the only thing going for them. I also think for William especially, he would view divorce as a failure because he views his father as a failure for many reasons, but not least of which is divorcing his mother.

        The irony of course is that for many families, getting a divorce results in a HAPPIER family. The separation/divorce helps the parents get along better, the kids aren’t living in a toxic environment, etc. That’s not true across the board, of course, but it does happen. So the idea that happy families = parents still married is a false one.

        But then I come back to what others are saying – I honestly don’t know how much people would care if they divorced. I think if it was kept relatively quiet and amicable (on the outside) most people would shrug and move on. A few derangers would bemoan the loss of Queen Catherine but overall I think the public would accept it. This is 2024, it would not be the huge scandal that the royals seem to think it would be, if it played out quietly.

        Another irony here is that if there IS shock at a divorce announcement, its because the Waleses have been insisting for the last decade that they are the picture perfect normal middle class family, despite their pesky millions and titles and tiaras, so for many the divorce would be surprising. If they dialed back their happy family narrative a bit they could better weather the PR Storm of a divorce announcement, you know?

      • Jais says:

        So let’s say they did announce a divorce and messaged that it was amicable, very conscious uncoupling. Would the BM tabloids get behind that? Or would they breathlessly report somewhat lurid details? I actually don’t know. At this point, they are so committed to the monarchy, that William can get away with a lot. I think they might actually play along if William wanted it to be seen as a mutual choice with no drama. They’d still have plenty to write about even with that direction.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Jais the relationship between the royals and the press is so twisted at this point that its hard to tell, but I do think the press would get behind an amicable divorce, especially if they could then start breathlessly reporting on who Kate was dating now etc. (or who william is dating.)

        And as long as William and Kate are both okay still offering up their children as press shields, I think they could control the narrative around a divorce pretty well.

        I think it could turn ugly in the press, but not if they get everything hammered out quietly behind the scenes first.

    • Jaded says:

      @Susan Collins — chemo flattened me for for a month or so, then it was back to business as usual, so I ain’t buyin’ the “recovery from chemo” stories AT ALL. William did *something* that destroyed an already shaky marriage, and Kate and Carol(E) are going to keep dangling it over his bald head like the Sword of Damocles to prevent a divorce and get Kate’s bony ass on the throne. I think the press either know or have a good inkling of what went down but, like others have stated, the relationship between the Wails and the media is all quid pro quo and they will keep writing their fawning nonsense in return for a steady stream of stories about the kids, their *work*, Kate’s *recovery*, etc.

      • sunnyside up says:

        I don’t believe she is still recovering from chemo either, especially after that video a month or so ago.

    • Megan says:

      @Susan Collins every case of cancer is different. Your personal experience has nothing to do with anyone else. I watched chemo ravish my best friend to the point she chose death over continued treatment. Rather than judge others, count your blessings.

      • Hannah1 says:

        There’s no evidence Kate has been ravaged by chemo

      • Jaded says:

        I think @Susan Collins was pointing out that Kate is using a pretty flimsy excuse to quiet quit. Yes it’s sad that there are many cancer sufferers who find chemo intolerable — I’m actually one of them and had to be taken off it as it was making me horribly sick, but guess what? Six weeks later I’m better and getting on with my life. I’m going into my third and final round of a different type chemo in a couple of weeks and hopefully it won’t hit me so hard and I’ll be able to bounce back equally well. The only thing Kate looks ravaged by is the stress of her dead-in-the-water marriage to a horrible bully of a man, and no gauzy feel-good video can hide it.

      • @Jaded I’m sorry chemo treated you poorly for two months. Glad you are back on your feet and fighting. They are going to beat us over the head with it when it suits her.@Megan if you read my comment carefully you would see I said I personally about my chemo not that everyone would be lucky like I was. Please read carefully before you come at me with everyone is different. I specifically put I personally with my chemo so I didn’t step on anyone’s toes who had a different experience.

    • Fabiola says:

      I would not be flying anywhere far if I had just finished chemo. The immune system takes a hit and there is no need to make a trip unless it’s some kind of emergency.

  3. aquarius64 says:

    Just admit the Waleses are separated and have been for some time. Someone will eventually report the truth.

  4. Proud Mary says:

    I can’t believe they’re floating this lie! Kate did not go to Singapore. Was she prioritizing her health then? Of course not. William demanded she stay away, because he was promoting himself as a hot single statesman. Kate darned a pair of jeggings and went out to do some military outing, if I recall correctly. I recall reading in the news, then, long before any word of her “illness” was released, that she was not going to South Africa either. Now it’s because of her health, even though she now clams to be “cancer free”? Just lie, after lie, as they project this failed marriage onto the Sussexes.

  5. JENNIFER says:

    So a professional and personal separation? I mean, since her appearance at Christmas is also in doubt?
    But no, we will not speculate about the white lady. She will have preventative chemo, and we will give her room to doo that.
    We will not disbelieve her, go on panels on ITV and claim she is lying. Or find royal expert to tell us how she can’t have preventative cancer treatment because her husband once went to a cancer center.

  6. Libra says:

    Recovering from what? Can she be more specific, 10 months out from abdominal surgery, video saying chemo over and cancer free, so what is the problem here? Many on this site have gone on record saying they have lived close to their usual life style while on chemo. Videos show she is quite active. What am I missing?

    • Jais says:

      Especially after Charles just came back from a trip while not yet being cancer-free. I’m just saying pr-wise it looks odd when one RF member has cancer and is doing trips while another did a cancer-free video and is not doing trips. And yet it’s crickets from the BM about that. But hey, I get it. I wouldn’t want to travel to Singapore with William either. But he’s not my husband .

    • Hypocrisy says:

      Thank you for saying everything I wanted to put into words! Recovery from what exactly? I truthfully couldn’t care less about her marriage or anything else she does or doesn’t do but the hiding behind some mysterious cancer is disturbing.

      • Jaded says:

        So is her lack of appreciation of the cancer specialists who allegedly treated her and her inability to turn her so-called illness into a way of supporting cancer research and charities that support patients and their families during treatment. It all speaks of a massive coverup.

  7. Kokiri says:

    I read Heidi Klum will be there, which is a bummer because I like her.
    She’s intelligent & well spoken, so is Winnie Harlow, which is my guess why Willy cannot stand to have Mumbles Kate with him.

    It screams volumes she’s not going. Can you imagine the headlines if Meghan missed Inviticus? Well actually we’ve seen the headlines when Harry flew solo for his events. They were scathing.

  8. Hannah says:

    Maybe she just doesn’t like going to places where the majority of people are not YT English people … oh sherbet, did I just say the quiet bit out loud ! Doofus 🫠

    • Becks1 says:

      Honestly, I think this could be part of it. Kate has never visited an African country as a working royal. She probably doesnt’ want to start with South Africa which would result in a direct comparison to Meghan.

  9. ML says:

    I believe WanK are separated, and normally K would have to scrounge up a ridiculous excuse not to go. This excuse is better than last year’s: She’s got that scar, she’s lost weight, she looks exhausted and ill, she’s probably having circulation issues (discoloration on her hands). I don’t like her, but I don’t think she’s off base not going this year. I do think she should be working more at home.

  10. Inge says:

    Oh joy another faux military outfit probably.

    And is it me or are the papers rather gleefully mentioning the supermodels…

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      Oh, it’s not just you… lots of people have clocked that. They’re also giggling about how every time he does one of these the celebrity level of the people he tries to surround himself with gets lower. From Cate Blanchett to Heidi Klum… in three years’ time he’ll be hanging out with Maura Higgins…

      Interesting though, that we haven’t heard a peep about “single dad rebrand” since the cancer storyline started up with the palaces. That kinda smells like a deal was struck, doesn’t it? What did Kate really get out of the bargain?

      • Jay says:

        @tiara, there’s a whole other article from the DM today about William’s new “hot stubble” and “more confident” (?) style now that he is “stepping up” to the throne. Because, you know, it’s the confidence that was his problem all along… Maybe the prospect of traveling solo without his wife and partying with celebrities will help him?

      • Where'sMyTiara says:

        @Jay I have thoughts on that… I feel like the “hot dad” and supermodels schtick is a smokescreen, tbh.

  11. Amy Bee says:

    As expected. Her next appearance will be Remembrance Day.

  12. Nanea says:

    So 🦴 needs time off to recover from the many months of recovering, or what?

    These lazy grifters can rejoice that they get their millions regardless — whether they “work” (whatever work is) or they don’t.

    And Harry’s brother and Harry’s SIL don’t, and get away with it.

    Abolish the monarchy.

  13. Harla says:

    I find it disheartening that Kate wants to “prioritize her recovery and focus on those things that bring her joy” but is making it clear that helping others and being of service to those less fortunate, isn’t a thing that brings her joy. This woman has such a platform to highlight issues and causes that affect so many but just can’t be bothered to reach out and help a fellow human being.

    • Henny Penny says:

      Good observation. If the life of public service she signed onto doesn’t bring her any joy, what exactly does? And why can’t she share these joyful passions, if any do exist, with the public?

      • BeanieBean says:

        My guess is it’s her kids. And maybe exercise/sport. She absolutely could start a conversation with other mothers of young children who have undergone or are currently undergoing treatment for cancer, but that would take too much work, which does not bring her joy.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      100%. Even if the whole cancer storyline is true, or even if she’s had chronic Covid – she could do Zoom-like mtgs in the public sphere that work around her energy levels, if she was motivated to do anything.

      The problem with sourcing an empty vessel to marry into the royal family that won’t upstage any royals, is that it never fills itself, and thus has nothing to pour out to give to others.

    • Kat says:

      The Remembrance Service “must bring her joy”.Also a chance to look all sombre in a new black coat, hat and dress and shoes.

  14. Joanne says:

    She definitely wasn’t hiding because of a facelift.

    • Bamaborn says:

      Beginning to give more credence to that Spanish reporter lately. Some type of head trauma might easily necessitate being placed in a medically induced coma, abdominal surgery might be a little bit bigger stretch. Do believe they are separated/divorced and she had to give Big Blue or its replica back.

  15. wolfmamma says:

    What exactly are you recovering from? I don’t think we’ve ever heard the truth. Ever

    • Hypocrisy says:

      The line they keep using about her “Prioritizing her recovery” has bothered me since they first started using it.. it sure sounds more like something someone just out of rehab would say rather than someone completing chemo. Whatever her issue is, if any, it sure looks like it will be her excuse for doing nothing for years to come.

  16. Nic919 says:

    William keeps giving the game away when he has to be near her. They will eventually run out of lies to use.

  17. Advisor2U says:

    What his stenographers and mouthpieces in the British press fail to report is that not a single penny of this “passion project” (like any of his “passion projects”) comes from Williams’ own pockets. The £100M budget for 10 years is all money from Bloomberg and Bezos, and they see it as an investment in the prizewinners’ companies, not as free grants. It’s just business, as Willy told the UK press in NY last year. So the media is giving him free publicity for his private business projects, sold to the public as charity projects.

    And Willy is spending those millions like crazy. If we look at the reports that the Earth*t Foundation “is willing to show”, he has so far spent more money on expenses (e.g. staff, PR, celebrities, travel, etc.) than on grants for the prizewinners.

  18. Teddy says:

    I think Kate just really really really wants to be queen and will never agree to a split. Certainly not now that Charles seemingly has one foot in the grave.

    • kelleybelle says:

      I think she was stalling a divorce, which is one reason the Middletons disappeared along with her. And I think one of the stipulations to stay married (in name only, mind you) was that she give back Big Blue.

    • MoonTheLoon says:

      Bingo. She and her family want the payoff, after all the crap they’ve endured. We need to remember that our Katie is a lot of things. But her Mummy didn’t raise no quitter. It’s like watching the Boleyn family, in modern day.

  19. ThelmA says:

    She’s irrelevant, honestly.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Balls, Will doesn’t want her there and she doesn’t want to go. These people are too laughable for words.

  21. First comment says:

    Alright, the new excuse for everything is “Kate prioritises her recovery “. I thought that the treatment was over, according to their own admission during the release of their last video… does she still have any side effects of the chemo? I think they overplay the cancer and chemo card and it’d probably backfire soon…. the biggest evidence for me is William’s behaviour towards Kate during the last engagement..you don’t treat your wife and mother of children with cancer like he did no matter how much you hate her..

  22. Digital Unicorn says:

    She’s not going as he doesn’t want her there. They r separated but they r putting off any public announcement.

    At this point she’s wife in name only and is being pushed into the background which is what I think she wants. She and Ma want to be able to pick and chose when she does her job but is backfiring as she’s been getting dragged for it. The plebs see her for what she is which is why they keep pushing the health narrative. Whatever good will she got with her announcement is fast going down the lav.

  23. Walking the Walk says:

    I will continue to say that an environmental event that changes locations every year is the dumbest thing ever.

  24. Nano says:

    I love how they say prince of Wales but say Kate Middleton, not princess of Wales. Are they hinting at something?

  25. LDMiddx says:

    This whole situation actually makes me really really angry. I have worked in a management role in which I frequently supported many employees living with cancer or other serious conditions; a common theme was that they tried to do as much work as they were able to and contribute whatever they could.

    This is often the case even for those who have generous sick pay at work. Whereas other people don’t even have the luxury of taking sick time; Statutory Sick Pay in the UK is a pittance and I personally know some people who have had to return to work even when sick because they can’t afford not to.

    Yet here we have Kate, who despite the huge rewards and privileges she receives in a role of PofW courtesy of taxpayers, takes months and months off to ‘prioritise her health and do what gives her joy’ – a luxury most ordinary working people don’t have. Most of us have to fit our joy around our other commitments – or even (believe it or not) find some of our joy in them. Does not Kate find any joy in her work?

    Just to be clear: nobody should expect her to work if she is really unfit – or to attend Earthshot if she is not well enough. But such is the RF’s arrogance that they don’t think we are owed any kind of explanation as to why she can barely work. She herself rejoices that she is recovering and evidently she has some capacity as she can attend Wimbledon and she can cavort across the country and clamber on logs in that Sunsilk ad.

    The lofty detachment from any sense that they even need to give us an explanation for this – together with the absence of any evidence of Kate wanting to serve and contribute whatever she is able to – the absolute tone deafness of it all, is just infuriating.

  26. Lau says:

    I would be curious to know what she does of her days. How are the British people mostly fine with paying for an entire family to do absolutely nothing of their days is beyond me.

    • Libra says:

      She’s a stay at home Mom with a rich husband; here’s what I know; exercise class with personal trainer followed by a swim then hair and makeup ad going through closets selecting a luncheon oufit, being driven to a very private reserved and camera free meal then shopping and home to go over dinner menu with cook for children s meal then adult meal later. Then outfit change and out for a run to be followed by shower, hair and makeup. One hour on phone and other social correspondence then dress, cocktail time and evening activities begin with husband home while both go upstairs to greet the children. Exhausting.

  27. Michele Wilson says:

    I live in Cape Town. It’s beautiful here at this time of the year. It would be such fun for their 3 children as well. So many wonderful beaches, whales spouting, and exciting places to visit, mountains to climb, bike rides around the Peninsula, and the FOOD!!! Cape Malay Curries!!! When I was 3 years old Queen Elizabeth 2 came to Cape Town. I waved a little flag.