How long will it take for the royal reporters’ WhatsApp group to decide to start asking serious questions about Prince William and Kate? If the past is prologue, all it takes is one well-worded piece in the Sun or Mail to get the ball rolling. So far, they’ve been unwilling, which might indicate that they’re being promised something down the line. The Sun’s Royal Editor is currently regurgitating KP’s vague line about how much time off William will need:

It was expected the Princess of Wales would pause her engagements to take time to recover, but William will also be clearing his diary temporarily.

“We still don’t have a date for when William will return. So, we’re just in that situation where [the Princess of Wales] is at home, waiting for her to be settled, before we see William again,” The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson explained.”We know Kate won’t be back till after Easter. But I think William, as a devoted father and husband, can just take as long as Kate needs him to be there and that’s the message they’re sending out to us.”

[From The Sun]

That’s the palace’s line, as I said. That’s what KP is telling the royal-reporter WhatsApp group. But it looks like Rebecca English got her own special briefing, because she reported exclusively on Friday that William might be seen by the end of this week.

The Prince of Wales is likely to return to work next week, Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English has told Palace Confidential. With three senior royals currently out of action, the past couple of weeks have looked relatively different for The Firm. The Prince of Wales, 41, has been caring for Kate Middleton, 42, as she recovers from an abdominal surgery at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Great Park.

However, speaking on the Mail+’s weekly talk show, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English, revealed that a sense of normality should be restored by the end of next week.

‘I think we could see him [William] doing some public engagements towards the end of next week I have to say. I think he’ll start to go back to work once she’s [Kate] settled,’ Rebecca said.

Speaking to podcast host Jo Elvin, Mail on Sunday’s Editor at Large Charlotte Griffiths and the Daily Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden, Rebecca explained that both Kate and Charles are doing well. But while Rebecca believes that William will make an imminent return to the public eye, Charles is expected to recuperate in private until the end of the month.

‘The King headed immediately for Clarence House, which is a London residence, and my understanding was that it was because he wanted to be within the vicinity of the hospital just for the first few days’, Rebecca said. She added: But after that I suspect he will head out to the country, maybe Windsor or Highgrove, for the next two or three weeks for recuperation.’

‘I doubt we’ll see him until the end of February out in public,’ the royal expert concluded.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, at first they were saying that Charles would only need a few weeks of recovery, then it was upgraded to a month, and I suspect we might go up to five or six weeks for Charles. As for William… just last week, courtiers were soft-launching the idea that William would be off from work as long as Kate, as in we wouldn’t see him until after Easter too. Now Becky claims that William could be seen as soon as Thursday or Friday? Who knows. If it happens – whenever it happens – I’m sure William’s first event back will be stage-managed to a crazy degree. He’ll be asked about Kate, he’ll recite one sentence (“She’s doing well, thank you.”) and then he’ll pose in a hard hat or something. Will that settle the restless vibe in the royalist media?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.