The Sunday Times had a new exclusive about the Princess of Wales. The piece was written by Roya Nikkhah, one of Prince William’s “favorite” reporters and someone who tends to write authentically from William’s perspective, even when she’s supposedly writing about Prince Harry. It’s just funny to me that three weeks ago, Roya’s big exclusive was “Harry at 40” and it was exclusively sourced from William’s incandescent rage at his brother. So this piece should absolutely be read as “this is what William is saying about his wife.” What’s weird is that… Kate and the Middletons used to go out of their way to get their Middleton-centered narratives out there. There’s been precious little of that this year. Anyway, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. The big exclusive is that Kate probably won’t be seen in public until Remembrance Day in November.
Kate’s restorative summer: Friends say the uncertainty of her good days and bad days “still rings true”. However, after a restful summer spent with the Prince of Wales and their three children at Anmer Hall, their home in Norfolk, the princess is beginning to think about the months ahead.
No on Cape Town, but yes on Remembrance Day: There is no set date for her return to public life, nor any engagements inked into her diary, and Kate will not accompany William to Cape Town in early November for this year’s Earthshot Prize awards. But if she continues to have more “good days”, it is understood she has set her sights on “potentially” joining the King and the royal family at the Cenotaph for the National Service of Remembrance on November 10.
They’re already planning Kate’s Christmas piano recital too: Royal aides are also understood to have started planning for the princess’s annual televised “Together at Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey in December. Continuing with some work from home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, Kate has been holding more regular meetings with her private secretary, Tom White, her assistant private secretary, Natalie Burrows, and the Waleses’ communications secretary, Lee Thompson, to plan for the future.
Kate’s long road to recovery: While future plans are under consideration, those close to the princess continue to echo the Kensington Palace mood music that there is “no expectation for her to rush back” to public life. “People know and understand it is a long journey to recovery,” said a friend last week. Any return to official duties for the princess will be “gradual” and will not replicate the King’s busy schedule since he resumed public engagements in April after revealing his cancer diagnosis in February.
William is thankfully more relaxed these days, you guys: Those close to the Waleses point to another hopeful sign of Kate’s progress: William, 42, is noticeably more relaxed of late and has decided to resume a fuller diary of engagements after their summer break. In early March, at the height of frenzied speculation around the princess’s health, a friend spoke of the pressure William felt as he reduced his public duties to support his wife and family. “Privately, he’s dealing with more than he has for a long time in his life and it’s tough to see. He is OK, but it is hard.”
William still hates his brother: Close friends say his mood has now lifted. While tensions with Prince Harry remained at the memorial service for their uncle, Lord Fellowes, in Norfolk last month — where the brothers did not exchange a word — William was all smiles among his allies at the service. “He was in very good form,” said a friend.
William’s beard: After being photographed clean-shaven while driving to church with Kate last month during their stay at Balmoral, some royal watchers have even pointed to the reappearance of William’s facial hair last week, seen during an engagement at the Saatchi Gallery in London, as another sign of his more relaxed demeanour.
Nanny Maria is still around? Since Kate’s diagnosis, the Waleses’ priority has been to protect their children and maintain as normal a home and school life as possible for Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, with the help of their long-standing Norland nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
There have been some rumors flying around online that Nanny Maria left the family’s employ, as did Lee Thompson, so it’s interesting that they both got name-checked by Roya’s “sources.” Obviously, the point of this story was to lavish sympathy on William, not Kate. Poor William has been going through it, William and his bender scruff will see better days. The fact that we’re sitting here in early September and they’re updating us that Kate won’t be seen until November… well, it’s what I expected. The events of this year proved that a princess can’t go completely missing for months with no explanation, but a princess can go missing for months at a time if you give the public just enough proof of life.
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