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.