Earlier this morning, as I wrote a different story about the Princess of Wales, it occurred to me that we hadn’t actually heard anything about William and Kate since Christmas day. I wondered if, immediately after Christmas, they headed off for another ski trip. That’s what Kate did last year after Christmas – she went to Switzerland or France for a ski holiday with the kids, and William might have joined her at some point. Whether they did a repeat of that one year later, I still don’t know and no one is saying anything. But if they did leave the UK, they returned in time to make a “surprise” public appearance today in West London.
The Princess of Wales has made a surprise appearance with Prince William to visit a hospital and thank NHS staff for their hard work during the difficult winter months.
Kate, who celebrates her 44th birthday tomorrow, made a last-minute decision to join William to drop into Charing Cross Hospital in West London, where they met with staff, volunteers and patients – marking their first official engagement of 2026.
The princess “wanted to join her husband to show her support for the NHS and to thank the teams at Charing Cross for their efforts” over a difficult winter period, Kensington Palace said.
Most years, Kate is barely seen until mid to late January, if that. So this is a surprise. They’re still making it sound like Kate tagged along on what was supposed to be William’s solo visit, but that happens a lot. William tags along on Kate’s events sometimes too, especially when one or both of them is feeling particularly needy. “Don’t forget about meeeee!” Considering all of the gossip and news about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the past three weeks, it would make sense. Plus, Harry is due to come to London this month for his lawsuit against the Mail. You’ve got to believe that William and Kate are both studying the trial schedule and making plans for last-minute events to coincide with Harry’s visit.
Apparently, this visit was specifically about the “winter flu crisis” – the flu has been exceptionally brutal this winter here in America, and I didn’t realize that England and Europe were also dealing with that too. I feel so lucky that I got my flu shot last September and that I have magically not caught anything in about a year. I hear the latest strain of norovirus is pretty brutal too. Stay safe everyone! Mask up!
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
-
- The Princess and the Prince of Wales, joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together, during a visit to Charing Cross Hospital, west London, to highlight the work of NHS staff and volunteers as they respond to the increased demand on services during the winter months Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together, during a visit to Charing Cross Hospital, west London, to highlight the work of NHS staff and volunteers as they respond to the increased demand on services during the winter months Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince and the Princess of Wales, joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together, during a visit to Charing Cross Hospital, west London, to highlight the work of NHS staff and volunteers as they respond to the increased demand on services during the winter months Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince and the Princess of Wales, joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together, speak to a patient in the therapy gym during a visit to Charing Cross Hospital, west London, to highlight the work of NHS staff and volunteers as they respond to the increased demand on services during the winter months Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, joint Patrons of NHS Charities Together, attend a roundtable on philanthropy in the National Health Service during a visit to Charing Cross Hospital, west London, to highlight the work of NHS staff and volunteers as they respond to the increased demand on services during the winter months Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
But why? Why would anyone in their right mind dress to the nines to visit a hospital full of contagious sick people and over-worked staff and not even bother to wear a mask? These two are selfish, but this takes the cake. That staff did not have time for this bs. What a waste of air these two are.
They did not mask up during the height of the pandemic during their train tour.
@Tessa the covid train tour where they turned up in Scotland unwanted & had the police called on them
Aka the Covid Cho Cho tour. The one where at the end of it the Queen full on snubbed Kate in public view.
Look who’s dressing monochrome…. again. She *never* did this before Meghan. I think she *still* is stalking M’s Insta, and probably has set up to get any Goggle alerts for any’s H&M pics that pop up.
This tone on tone dressing is very Meghan coded. Anyway, interesting that this visit happened unannounced after certain images started circulating yesterday.
She’s been doing the tone on tone for a while now but yeah it started post-Meghan doing tonal dressing. The pushed up sleeves are something Meghan also does. Maybe she’s overheated though idk.
That is a pretty color and I like the monochrome. She should copy Mehan more often.
Hospital staff and patients were also unmasked. They clearly weren’t in the sick ward.
Ummm, so is this surprise appearance meant to distract from the most recent helicopter video?
Bingo!
Absolutely. Yet did she do more damage bc she didn’t wear big blue or that eternity band… since she apparently just dropped in and didn’t have time to get her ring.
I saw the video of the drop off and I for sure believe that those two are definitely separated and everything they do is to hide it. So many things about their actions and decisions make sense with this in mind. Forest Lodge is Kate’s separation house and they definitely moved to Windsor so they could hide it better.
Could somebody please tell me: Were the kids leaving Kensington Palace and returning to Forest? Where was Louis? I bet they find a way to prevent such photos. I can’t figure out how they got this one. Maybe a really long lens?
They were arriving at KP with the overnight bags. And it was only Charlotte and George leaving the helicopter with William along with the dogs. Louis was not seen and the video captured them walking at the way to the back gate of KP grounds.
Tourists can film them even from fairly far away from the landing site.
The forest lodge helipad would be more concealed and hidden from public view. Especially with the 150 acres sealed off.
I came here to say the same thing about the helicopter ride and the kids with their overnight bags 😎 I guess this was William’s weekend with the kids 😳
This has been their pattern and will be in the future. Obfuscation, distraction, pretending for the cameras, attacking the Sussexes and outright lying to not address real issues, whether it’s crown finances or the state of their marriage.
That was my thought too. The kids went back to school yesterday so I wonder if that video was from the weekend when they arrived for William’s weekend with them, and when it gained traction they trotted Kate out to this event. To me the interesting part about the video is that the dogs were clearly with William at KP which belies the idea of a happy family all set up in Forest Lodge.
But regardless, I think Kate was told to show up to cover up for that video (and I’m sure she took a helicopter lmao.)
Yeah, the dogs were with William at KP. Which…I would have assumed, regardless of who stays where, the dogs would be at FL. More area for them to play. Who’s watching them all day at KP? Staff? Jason? Surely not William. And again, William being in a suit threw me. You mean he was doing work in the first week of January?? I’m shocked.
Some people said there was snow yesterday in London which matched the video. If not yesterday it was definitely recent and confirms kate and Louis were not with them.
That was my thought as well 👆👆
It snowed here (London) on Tuesday. No other snow on other days just frost.
I don’t think they’re separated into traditional sense that we all know. I think this is and has been an aristocratic arrangement wherein he could do whatever he wanted (discreetly) and once the heir and spare were out, they effectively lead separate lives but still come together for work and family obligations.
Much like the Queen and Philip.
It probably wouldn’t be such a big deal if they hadn’t made such a fuss over being a “normal” family and wrapped William’s entire image up in that. I guess he doesn’t have much else to offer though.
The perfect middle class family PR, coupled with how amazingly strong and close W&K talking points are the issue. The queen and Philip had a typical aristo marriage but they didn’t have this heavy handed garbage put out to try to counter any gossip about their marriage. They just carried on. If W&K were more lowkey with how in love they allegedly are and weren’t putting out Summer’s Eve commercials of them frolicking on the beach, their separate lives wouldn’t be an issue. I think even one of the rota said that that cancer remission video would make people feel lied to if they knew the truth. Their multiple forever homes to hide feeling “overlooked” doesn’t make their situation better either.
Besides that, they aren’t that discreet. William’s dad dancing in Switzerland, the drop offs with overnight bags with the kids (this is the second I’ve seen on Twitter) , and FL bring attention to their situation, along with the obvious contempt they display for each at times. I’d say that their marriage resembles Charles and Diana over Liz and Ph.
Phil and Liz didn’t push PR that it was a fairytale love marriage, especially not in the later years.
William and Kate started with the longtime friends PR but then when Harry and Meghan showed up actually like a loving couple, these two liars wanted to pretend they were the same too.
They aren’t. It’s a transactional marriage like Melania and orange monster. No love, just calculated actions for social and financial benefit.
They got greedy and now the truth can’t be hidden.
Kate looks good. One of her better attempts at monochrome
One thing with KP- they are definitely aware of sm discourse (the helicopter flight & suggestion they are separated ) and move accordingly
I thought the brown bag and the black shoes looked odd, but it was one of her better looks these days.
She carried that brown purse with a grey suit too. She cannot accessorize at all.
My exact thoughts about her accessories. Kate doesn’t have the eye for styling. Willy’s outfit is throwing me off. I feel like his shoes should be slightly darker or maybe it’s how the light hits them.
Yeah, I actually liked this suit on her and the color was good. I usually don’t like the fussiness of her blouses but this one wasn’t bad.
Suit was fine, but someone has to tell herthe truth about the sausage curls and extensions. That hair is awful – it is incredibly fake looking and dates her look even more than her make-up and terrible accessories do.
Kate looks good. One of her better attempts at monochrome
One thing with KP- they are definitely aware of sm discourse (the helicopter flight & suggestion they are separated ) and move accordingly
My whole household got the flu vaccine and 4 out of 6 of us had the flu over Christmas. It was pretty brutal. Apparently there is a vaccine resistant strain this year that is dominate.
The shot still protects you from the most severe symptoms and complications. You’re better off with it than without.
I got the flu shot, and 3.5 weeks later, I caught the flu. I have never been so mildly sick with the flu. I wouldn’t even have thought it could be the flu, which is usually so brutal, if I hadn’t taken a test. So I felt like the vaccine must have helped me a lot.
The flu is AWFUL this year. We actually had a child at our school pass away from it over winter break. (there may have been underlying immune issues, I don’t know, but STILL.) Get your vaccines! It’s not too late!
The flu vaccine comes from last year’s strain, loads of people don’t know that.
A performative visit to draw attention to the flu crisis and no masks?
They’re not just lazy opportunists, they’re really dumb.
I was going to say
Also part of the reason we’re all having “such a bad flu season” is that there are three new strains of Covid circulating, all highly transmissible.
Both viruses are dangerous, can cause permanent circulatory & heart damage… in addition to rheumatoid conditions. Also making folks more vulnerable to measles and shingles which are also raging both sides of the pond.
Get vaxed, mask up…😷
I still get the annual Covid booster with the updated variants. Better safe than sorry.
So its a really bad flu season & they meet with people unmasked?!
I don’t know. If that hyena face was staring down at me, my flu would definitely yeet itself from my body. What a complete waste of time and money these two are. The infatuation some Brits have with them boggles the mind. They are blatantly flaunting their wealth and entitlement and people just say “ok” carry on.
Meanwhile, their fellow citizens are lining up to just to eat! When will us regular folks come to understand hero worship is not a good thing. What did ever get us? Our hero’s get rich and we sit and complain about the cost of bread.
Heheheh! All hail the keen flu exorcist.
Yeah those photos are damn scary. The Botox and fillers just remove the humanity from her face, especially since she never smiles with her eyes when William is near her.
This photo is released by their team isn’t it? This is the best they could do? She looks maniacal and he is trying not to laugh
It must be those magic genes again. They can go to a contagion hotspot unmasked and never worry about catching anything. 😒 Hope the staff protected the patients from them.
Just like Kate, I am recovering from cancer treatment. You better believe i am masked up every time i go out the door, staying home where possible, and banning any visits to or from friends and family who may have been in contact with people suffering from flu. I am vaccinated as is everyone in my household, but we are still ultra careful. The flu here in mainland Europe is really brutal. I do not understand Kate putting herself, and others, at risk in this way.
Irish Eyes she can do this because unlike you, I doubt she really had cancer. Glad you are taking care of yourself🙏
I wish I could make a ‘surprise’ appearance for the plebs, do a whole lot of nothing and still get paid handsomely.
This definitely feels like, “let’s distract from the helicopter and also get something on the books, so when we go out in a flurry of activity during Harry’s visit around 1/19, we won’t look so pathetic and obvious.”
Gotta get some good PR with the public who they couldn’t give two f**ks about.
Well this is a surprise. They don’t usually come out before Kate’s birthday. I wonder what prompted the decision to do this engagement so early in the year?
The helicopter scene?
I think the video made it clear that William was in London (and maybe he had this event scheduled well in advance) so by shuffling Kate there it made it less obvious that he was in London without her.
I had read a few days ago that William was going to make an appearance today. He sometimes announces his stuff. Kate showing up is the surprise and crisis management to cover for that helicopter video.
I’ve been going to the cancer center for months and no one wears a mask except maybe me and one nurse. It’s crazy. As for Peg and Wig, he maybe looks a little wind burnt. Could just be alcoholic face. No big blue on Wig, so she and the ring were in different locations. Interesting. The harder they try, the more obvious it is. The new video just confirms what we all knew the first time we saw Charlotte get out of a helicopter with a bag.
Yeah, I have to be at the local hospital several times a week for a family member’s appointments and no one is masking. It’s insane.
We learned nothing from the pandemic.
Will and Kate actually could have done something useful by masking in a situation like this, but of course they were too clueless to do it.
Wow that shocks me. I’m a nurse and am masked more or less my entire shift. I’m in Ontario and children and teens are being hard hit. Also lots of flu /covid /pneumonia amongst our adult patient population where I work
Yes the separation was in place by the commonwealth games in Birmingham which was summer 2022. This was also when William arrived in a different car to attend Wimbledon and George and Kate were there first. George had greeted him like he hadn’t seen William in days. And the rota made up some story that William had a “meeting” prior to Wimbledon (on the weekend) to try to explain. The separate vehicles.
I know Becks1 and I and a few others have discussed when the separation took place and it was post Oprah interview when the zoom room changed from Anmer Hall oddly after months of it being there, and suddenly the zoom room was at Sandringham, where William was also able to move in to Wood farm, since Philip was no longer staying there and was at Windsor Castle with the Queen.
Adelaide cottage was going to be the separation home for 2022 but a renegotiation happened during the missington months in early 2024.
@Nic919 yup exactly, after the oprah interview, so March 2021. And then in the summer of 2021 was when we started hearing about the potential move to Berkshire/Windsor – so I think part of the deal from Kate’s end was “I want to be closer to my parents” and I think QEII was the one who put her foot down until she eventually got adelaide. Whatever happened in 2024 got her Forest Lodge.
Part of me wonders if William kept Adelaide for himself but 1) I dont think he would live in a smaller house than Kate and 2) this video proves he’s at KP like we long suspected.
I feel badly for the kids. In addition to the stress of dealing with: the logistics of separation (remember the poem Meghan wrote about that); the obvious animosity between their parents, which is undoubtedly worse out of the public eye; and whatever they know about Kate being MIA and what the truth really is about her supposed cancer – they’re supposed to pretend that nothing is going on and they’re just one big happy family. I hope they at least have some positive influences in their lives because they’re currently heading for yet another screwed up, dysfunctional, unhappy generation of royal descendants.
Let’s also toss on the pile the odd story about Charlotte reacting negatively to William growing a beard, as if she hadn’t seen him in weeks…a small but telling detail
One of the things that always gets me is that IF the Wales are separated, the kids are being forced to play into this public farce. That’s a lot to put on top of them along with all the other expectations they’ll have as they grow up in the house of Windsor. Add in the Windsors invisible contract with the tabloids. Whew.
Even if they aren’t officially separated, they can’t conceal their disdain for each other and if we can see it in public then the kids see even more.
They are damaging their children by doing this and no amount of school runs will fix this.
This is bananas, to me. I am in remission after a bone marrow transplant in June 2025, and every area of the cancer hospital I receive treatment at requires masks. There is apparently one floor where it’s optional, but I’ve never been there. I cannot imagine being treated for cancer, and not masking everywhere you go. Absolute insanity.
Congratulations on your remission! I am done with chemo and have surgery scheduled for February 2nd. If the lymph node biopsy comes back clean, I will have no more treatment except an immunotherapy drug. And yes, it boggle my mind that masks aren’t required for the nurses. They’ll wear them when they do the actual drug administering, but not just walking around. The fact that most of the other patients aren’t masking either is so concerning as many of them are older. I have worn a mask everywhere since the end of August. I even wear one when people come by my house to help me. I cannot afford to get sick.
Congratulations on the end of chemo! I’m with you, I can’t imagine not masking. I still mask every single place I go, and my son and I both wear masks when we are in the car together, and keep mine on when we get home. I don’t want his teenager germs, if I can possibly avoid them. A whole lot of anti-bacterial products are used in this house.
The Donothings are so predictable and Sophia Petrillo wore it better.
LOL!
I knew I could count on the CB comment section to say exactly what I was thinking – raising “awareness” about how bad the flu crisis is by visiting a hospital unmasked is infuriating!!! Is their plan to demonstrate just how quickly you can spread a serious respiratory illness by not using basic PPE? Cuz this could certainly do that!
Not only do these two regularly meet with vulnerable populations (children and the elderly, for a start) but Charles in particular is elderly and literally still getting cancer treatments!!! I know in a lot of settings masking is not mandatory, but whyyyy wouldn’t you do the literal smallest proactive step to protect others, especially if that someone is your own father? Maybe someone is taking the “Arise Queen Kate” headline to another level…
Damage control much? They don’t even look like they want to be near each other. It’s got to be painful for Kate (I think William wanted the separation – allegedly)
I was watching a podcast and a fellow watcher posted that the video leak may have come from Camilla, because of that “Arise, Queen Kate” story. I can see how that makes sense.
This family is so dysfunctional; they will step on and throw each other under the bus at any given opportunity. That being said, Kate looks like the Joker with that grin and Bill looks so fake with his concern and interest. My guess is she wasn’t even scheduled to appear or didn’t want to go but was bullied or forced into it in light of the KP helicopter arrival video. And stand back, tomorrow the rota and palace social media websites will be chock full of boot licking birthday greetings for “Queen Kate.”
They’re deeply dysfunctional. At the rate they’re going, they won’t need outsiders to destroy the monarchy – they’re doing a perfectly fine job of dismantling it themselves. A group of petty, vindictive and entitled people they are.
Wait a minute–isn’t this one of those senior royals show up to get photographed & go home kind of things that the other Arise, Queen Katiekins article complained about? You know, the kind of thing K&W want to do differently? 🤔
Who does this benefit? Did they do a PSA about getting the vaccine? Did they do a PSA about flu symptoms and how to treat them? Did they bring donations to support community efforts? Did they donate to the primary care ward? Did they do much as supply lunch to the NHS staff pressed into service for their photo op?
I’m late to the party today, but, um, what is that scar on William’s right arm in the header photo?
I think that’s a vein, otherwise there wouldn’t be hair growing across it.
If William is at KP, how is he doing the school runs? Supposedly he can’t work because his kids need him so badly. Looks like he isn’t with them all that much. They live with their mother except maybe on weekends.