I said this months ago on the Gossip with Celebitchy podcast, and it’s still true today: I have yet to come up with one overarching theory for the Princess of Wales’s absence from public life, the contradictory reports on health, the wild briefings from Kensington Palace when they reportedly knew Kate had cancer, the Mother’s Day frankenphoto, the mysterious “sightings” of someone vaguely resembling “Kate,” and the behavior of the Windsors AND the Middletons. Every time I think “oh, I guess this or that is happening,” some other thing doesn’t make sense. So I’m left reading the effects and the appearances. It appears that Buckingham Palace took over Kensington Palace’s clownish comms operation in March. It appears that heaven and earth is being moved to protect William, not Kate. It appears that the Windsors are quite pleased that, within the past two months, they’ve reined in the British media on the subject of Kate and her health. The messaging has been much more disciplined and there appears to be a palace timeline being executed.

We’re entering June, a time when many people hoped to see or hear from Kate in some way, even if it was a general health update and a photo. We’re not getting that. Instead, we’re getting the message that no one will see Kate for many more months. Richard Eden reported that in the Mail this week, that Kate likely wouldn’t be seen publicly until the fall. Now “sources” tell The Daily Beast that Kate likely won’t have any public appearances this entire year, but they might do another “video” update on her health.

Kate will likely be away for the whole year: One source said they do not expect to see Kate back in any kind of public-facing role in the medium term, adding it was possible she would remain absent from public life for the rest of the year. The source said: “Lots of people involved in planning need to know what all the principals are doing a long way in advance. I am told that Kate’s diary for this year is empty. There is nothing planned. She may not appear in public for the rest of the year.”

A video update? Asked how the Palace would deal with the inevitable resurgence of conspiracy theories and speculation that a protracted absence would provoke, The Daily Beast’s source said: “I would not rule out another video message updating the country on her health. That proved to be a very effective way of keeping the conspiracy theorists at bay.”

The Wales family is going to Norfolk today: A friend of Kate and William told The Daily Beast: “The key thing for her now is avoiding any kind of stress or anxiety and just getting on with the business of getting better. They will bail out and be off to Sandringham the moment school breaks up.”

Kate is only “confiding” in her family, not William’s friends: The friend said that Kate has preferred to lean on and confide in her family rather than her and William’s circle of friends, many of whom will be at the Duke of Westminster’s wedding next month (along with her husband who is best man). They said: “The circle of trust is tiny. She has been surrounded by Carole and Michael, and (sister) Pippa and (brother) James have obviously been there for her as well. They are an incredibly tight family, and Catherine feels absolutely confident relying on them. They have been there for her for decades and never let her down.”

She’s not working from home either: There is no doubt her office is certainly managing expectations downwards when it comes to the question of her return to work….While making clear she had read the [Early Childhood] report and been kept updated on it, and that her office was on top of things, the statement carefully avoided any suggestion she was spending her days sitting up in bed with a computer. A source described as a “senior royal aide” went further when it came to explicitly downplaying any suggestions she had an ongoing daily workload, telling the Mail: “She will return to work when she has had the green light from doctors.”

The kids’ half-term starts today: Kate and William are expected to “bail out” of their Windsor home on Friday, one friend said. They are likely to spend the short holiday at the family’s country house, Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where there is plenty of room for her mother and father (Carole and Michael Middleton), to stay, and privacy is easy to enforce thanks to a protective local community, many of whom are either friends with or work for the royals in some capacity.

Kate hasn’t been to her kids’ school events, but she possibly did a few drop-offs: The Daily Beast has been told by fellow parents at the smart private school which Kate’s children attend that she has not been seen at the sports matches and the other school events she and her husband usually religiously attend. However, she is understood to have done occasional school runs, one parent said, but while keeping a low profile. “There have been rumors she has done drop-off, but I haven’t seen her since the video,” said one. “We all feel very protective of her. Ask anyone at the school—they are amazing parents.”

[From The Daily Beast]

The weekend before Kate’s cancer-announcement video, “sources” swore up and down that Kate was seen at her kids’ sporting event AND that she was seen at the Windsor Farm Store. Now they’re admitting that was all a lie? I mean, we knew that at the time, but the palace’s refusal to acknowledge that they have zero credibility these days is remarkable. From January on, it just feels like we’ve been fed one lie after another, about everything. Lies about Kate’s condition, lies about the timelines of recovery and illness, lies about why William pulled out events, lies about who took photos, lies about who was actually in certain photos, lies about when photos were taken. As for Kate not being seen all year minus some, um, suspicious “videos,” again, there is such a credibility issue here.

(Sidenote: I’ve long believed that Kate has been in Norfolk for much of the year anyway – I’ve always had my doubts that she’s been in Windsor or London when the palace has claimed.)

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.