The photo above ^ is from January 18th, when Prince William was seen leaving The London Clinic after visiting his wife. This is the only time he’s been photographed around the London Clinic, leaving some of us (myself included) wondering if William has only visited his wife in the hospital once in the past week. I was under the belief that the media had set up camp outside the London Clinic and that they would get photos of all of William’s visits and visits from Kate’s family. But now Hello Magazine says that the media was only allowed outside the hospital on that one day (the 18th) and they haven’t been allowed back.

The Princess of Wales has been quietly recovering in hospital since she underwent successful abdominal surgery on Tuesday last week. And while members of the press were allowed to report from outside The London Clinic on the day that Kensington Palace announced Kate’s health news, media have not been allowed to station themselves outside the Marylebone hospital since.

So much secrecy has surrounded the Princess’ hospital stay and lengthy recovery. This is unlike when Kate was expecting Prince George in 2013, and reporters and photographers spent weeks camping outside The Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, waiting for news of the royal baby’s birth. The media frenzy was even dubbed the ‘Great Kate Wait’.

The then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge learnt from this experience and for the following two births of their children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, media were only invited down to the hospital once Kate was in labour.

“When the royal children were born it was a moment for celebration and there was a controlled arrangement in place for the media to be outside the Lindo Wing to report on it,” Emily Nash, HELLO!’s royal editor, explained of the press presence. Explaining the lack of media presence outside the hospital, Emily added: “This is a different situation to the royal children’s births, and you have to consider the privacy of other patients coming in and out for treatment as well as that of the Princess.”

[From Hello]

This actually answered some big questions I had about the lack of photos around the London Clinic and the lack of reporting on who is visiting and when. It feels like Kensington Palace authorized the media scrum set up last week, with the promise that they would get photos of William in his Audi. It actually makes perfect sense that this is the compromise worked out: KP would stage the photos with William last week with the understanding that the media give William and Kate space and time beyond that. Now, I’m surprised that media outlets haven’t put up a fight about it, but I’m sure deals are being made behind the scenes for how this is being managed at a comms level. Still, I’m glad Kate is being given the space and privacy to recover in peace. I always hated that she had to do those post-birth photocalls so quickly.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.