From Kensington Palace’s sudden pushback on the “Kate was in a coma” speculation to this new exclusive in the Daily Beast, it finally seems like the palace communications office is finally back from vacation. Did they have all of January off? KP announced on Monday that Kate was discharged from the hospital and that she’s returned to Adelaide Cottage, where she’ll recuperate for the next two to five months. “After Easter” is what we were told at first, but they keep extending it, like Kate might be iffy for Trooping the Colour in June. This week, there’s also been a strange effort to minimize Kate’s situation. Now the Daily Beast’s Royalist column is doing the most to make it sound like this has all been expertly handled (???) because Kate and William are showing the world that they’ll do things their own way, which means months and months of never being seen. There’s also some speculation about when William will “come back to work.” Some highlights:

A change of protocol: Former royal editor of the Sun, Duncan Larcombe, told The Daily Beast: “The whole of their focus is on her recovery and their family right now. This is a big change in protocol: it’s not really the done thing in royal circles to be seen to be taking great swathes of time off for a mere illness. You keep going. Just look at the queen; even when she was dying, she would get it together for five minutes and walk out onto the balcony and wave. The queen mother had breast cancer in the late 70s—but that didn’t emerge until after her death in 2002! Any suggestion that Prince Philip was ever seriously ill was always aggressively denied by Buckingham Palace. William and Kate are making it very clear that times have changed and they won’t be bound by the old ways of doing things. Instead, they are going to act like anyone else in this position, and are putting their family first.”

Nanny Maria is a big help: The Daily Beast understands that William and the couple’s nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, are splitting household duties including school runs for the children, with Kate under doctor’s orders to remain in bed as much as possible. Borrallo… has become a trusted and valued member of the domestic household, one whose presence will be relied on more than ever in the months ahead.

When Kate & William will be back to work: Kensington Palace have said that Kate will not be expected to return to public life until April. After Kate was admitted to hospital, palace sources told The Daily Beast that William would be absent from public duties, “during the immediate period following her return home.” They have since declined to enlarge on that carefully ambiguous formulation. In contrast to Kate’s protracted absence from public life, King Charles is understood to be mending well from his much more minor prostate procedure. Some sources have suggested he could be back doing public engagements as soon as next week. When it comes to William and Kate, however, no-one is making any bets, although some hope that William might return to public engagements relatively soon.

Maybe William will attend the BAFTAs after all: One source said: “It would help give a sense of normality, and that things are being adequately managed, if William made a few public appearances. Perhaps the BAFTAS [the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards] will be the moment.” Certainly, if William, President of BAFTA since February 2010 is not able or willing to attend the awards, scheduled to take place on 18 February, his non-appearance will cut through to the general public, precisely because of his near-perfect attendance record at the ceremony.

Other sources think William will be MIA for longer: A friend of the couple told The Daily Beast: “I don’t think William will be doing anything at all in the next few weeks.” Asked if they thought that was a sign of how seriously the couple are taking Kate’s recovery, the friend said, “It is totally unprecedented. It’s just about two very conscientious parents putting their children, on whom there is tremendous pressure, first.”

No one will cover for the Waleses: There seem to be no plans for any other royals to step into William and Kate’s shoes while they are off work. A royal source told The Daily Beast: “William and Kate have their own royal household, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for Prince Edward, for example, to suddenly start representing them, in the way he could represent the king.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“If William, President of BAFTA since February 2010 is not able or willing to attend the awards…his non-appearance will cut through to the general public, precisely because of his near-perfect attendance record at the ceremony.” BAFTA President William has actually skipped the ceremony seven times since 2010. If he skips this year’s ceremony, that will be the eighth time. The other times he’s skipped, it’s usually been for reasons like “he needed to recover from his holiday” or “he didn’t feel like it.” He even skips the pre-BAFTA party HELD AT KENSINGTON PALACE every damn year.

As for when Will and Kate will return… the way the wind is blowing, I would say Kate probably won’t be seen until May. I think William will probably aim for one or two March events. Maybe he’ll take the kids to church on Easter Sunday.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.