Some of you have theorized that the American gossip media is once again applying pressure on the British media to figure out what the hell is going on with the Princess of Wales. We don’t need to go through the six-months-long history of shenanigans, suffice to say, some really weird sh-t is happening. I do find it notable that the two biggest “Kate won’t be seen for the rest of the year/she might never come back to the same role” pieces were published in the American media, the Daily Beast and Us Weekly respectively. Us Weekly’s cover story this week has been widely picked up by other American outlets too, all while the British media stays silent as the grave. Like, not even the Daily Mail did coverage of Us Weekly’s cover story. It’s just something to keep your eye on – the Windsors are soft-launching certain storylines in the American media, all while keeping the British media on a short leash. Meanwhile, Harper’s Bazaar ran this very odd pushback on Us Weekly’s piece:

Princess Kate’s cancer treatment and recovery will keep her away from returning to public duties for a little while longer. Kensington Palace recently provided an update on the Princess of Wales’s work status, once again reiterating that she is not expected to come back to work until her medical team advises her to do so.

“We have been really clear that [Kate] needs the space and the privacy to recover right now,” a palace spokesperson told Us Weekly. “She will return to work when she has had the green light from doctors.”

A source for the outlet alleged that Kate “may never come back in the role that people saw her in before,” but a royal insider tells Harper’s Bazaar that such a claim is “unfair and untrue.”

“There is no information about Kate’s ‘return’ because the focus at this moment in time is 100% on her health—to suggest she won’t return to her role is unfair and untrue,” the source explains. “Conversations of that nature are just not being had. When the time is right, she will resume her work.”

Of how Kate is currently doing, the source said she is “in good spirits,” adding, “She is focused on her health and family.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

“To suggest she won’t return to her role is unfair and untrue…Conversations of that nature are just not being had. When the time is right, she will resume her work.” “When the time is right” is doing the heavy lifting. Once again, I understand the “Kate is under medical advice” argument. But the messaging from the palace is schizophrenic: Kate can’t work and can’t do any public events about her health BUT we also insist that she’s out with her family regularly and running errands and stopping by the grocery store, but of course there are no photos! All they’ve done for the past four months is successfully kick the can down the road further and further.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.