There’s a lot being done this week by people with one particular agenda. That agenda? That the Princess of Wales is absolutely the woman who carried a heavy bag and walked briskly out of the Windsor Farm Store last Saturday. A lot of people have a lot of doubts about it, including at least one BBC reporter and one TMZ executive. Someone who doesn’t have any doubts? People Magazine’s royal editor Simon Perry, who insisted: “No, it wasn’t fabricated or featuring a body double (the photo would surely have been better if that were the case!). And yes, it was indeed Kate. Did their handlers mind that they’d been spotted looking happy as they ran their errands? I suspect not.” The Sun also ran an interview with Nelson Silva, the man who took the video, who insists that it’s Kate and that people questioning it are “delusional.”

So, sure. For argument’s sake, let’s say that Kate really is up and about and feeling well enough to walk briskly at a Windsor farmer’s market and carry heavy grocery bags. Let’s say that her abdominal issues have healed and she magically came out of the procedure looking fifteen years younger, with a radically different face. It begs the question: why then has Kensington Palace insisted that Kate take such a lengthy recovery time, and why wasn’t she capable of simply recording a video of thanks for all the support, and why did “she” hack together a frankenphoto for Mother’s Day? Not only that, if she’s feeling well enough for these kinds of outings, surely she can do some work? Like, a Zoom meeting or a work briefing at Windsor Castle? Apparently, Kensington Palace staff just figured out that their silence-is-confirmation on the TMZ video means that people are curious why Kate is still not working. Like magic, this story appeared:

The Princess of Wales has been working from home on her early years project to improve the lives of babies, as she eases back into normal life after her abdominal surgery. Kensington Palace confirmed that she had been kept up to date with her campaign and the “overwhelmingly positive” results of a study she inspired.

The Princess’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has funded a trial of a baby observation tool, which is to be used by health visitors to improve how they spot signs of social and emotional development in young children, with the results being published on Thursday. Having personally suggested that the tool could be used in Britain after seeing a similar system during a royal visit to Denmark, the Princess has been particularly invested in the four-month trial.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace said: “The Princess has been kept updated throughout the process.” The comment from Kensington Palace is the first official update on the Princess’s early years work since her recovery from surgery in January, during which she has been taken off public duties.

Ordinarily, she would have been expected to undertake engagements relating to the study’s publication. Instead, she has been at home recovering and is just starting to get back on her feet for small outings, including to a Windsor Farm Shop at the weekend.

The Princess of Wales’s Centre for Early Childhood will on Thursday report the results of a study conducted in two NHS trusts by the Institute of Health Visiting and the University of Oxford. It asked health visitors to use a version of a tool known as the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB), which focuses on a baby’s social behaviours such as eye contact, facial expression, vocalisation and activity levels, to help experts and families better understand the ways babies express their feelings.

[From The Telegraph]

I forgot that Kate took credit for “funding a study” after all of last year’s nonsense about her latest rebranded Early Years crap. Last year, it was Shaping Us, with a creepy claymation video and an “awareness raising” campaign. As in, Kate raised awareness that the early years are important. That’s it. Now she’s funding a landmark study into whether you can tell a baby is upset when they cry. Anyway, Keen is back to work! Back to busy-work.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.