I still find it fascinating that none of the British tabloids or media outlets picked up Us Weekly’s cover story about the Princess of Wales this week. The g–damn Telegraph picked up my tweets about Omid Scobie’s Endgame, but suddenly the Mail is radio silent when Us Weekly’s royal insiders are soft-launching the idea that Kate might never come back to her royal role? It’s weird. In recent weeks, it’s felt like we’ve regressed back to early March, with mysterious and unverified “sightings” of Kate “running errands” yet royal insiders insist that she’s not recovered enough to stand on a balcony. It has the feel of a restless media and six months of unanswered questions. Well, Richard Fitzwilliams tells Us Weekly that it’s his hope that Kensington Palace realizes that this weird stalemate cannot continue:

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams does not think that “out of control” speculation about Princess Kate Middleton’s health will “recur” as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy.

“Lessons should have been learned from what happened earlier,” Fitzwilliams, 74, told Us Weekly exclusively about the conspiracy theories surrounding Kate’s health, noting that it would be “appropriate” for Kensington Palace to chime in when needed.

“I mean, if you’re not told at all, and months passed, clearly there’s speculation and that could happen again,” he continued. “So, I’m sure that it will be handled in a different way.”

Kate announced on March 22 that she was diagnosed with cancer after weeks of speculation about her whereabouts. Since she’s started undergoing treatment, questions about Kate’s return to royal duties continue to rise. Some reports have speculated that the Princess of Wales will return to work by the fall while others say her recovery time will be longer.

“I think the palaces recognize that it is essential from time to time to update the press — and through them the public of course — [on] important issues,” Fitzwilliams explained. “I mean, with King Charles, it’s very good to see what’s happening now, and I think everyone’s very pleased in that. I would hope by the fall or by the end of the year matters will have resolved themselves. But you just don’t know.”

Further discussing Kate and her ongoing health struggles, Fitzwilliams praised the Princess of Wales for going public with her cancer diagnosis — and hopes the public understands her decision to keep a low profile.

“The video message in March was, I would say, the most moving given by a public figure in Britain on a health issue. So, I mean, I think that people understand the very difficult situation that she’s in,” he said, noting that her public “plea for time and space” is sure to be respected. “People genuinely feel for her and Prince William and their family in this extremely difficult time.”

[From Us Weekly]

“Lessons should have been learned from what happened earlier” – lessons were not learned, as we’ve seen in recent weeks. “I think the palaces recognize that it is essential from time to time to update the press… on important issues.” No they don’t recognize it! Even if you completely believe the cancer-announcement video, that video introduced a timeline which makes no sense and it also acknowledges that the palace LIED about Kate’s health for weeks and failed to give the public some important updates. The palace and the British media still haven’t grappled with the fact that Kensington Palace has zero credibility at this point. Even if they were operating in good faith right now (they aren’t, but play along), no one would believe them. That being said, I would imagine we will get some kind of formal palace “update” later this month, possibly after Trooping.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, screencaps courtesy of BBC/KP, cover courtesy of Us Weekly.