Kate Middleton is in the best possible position to recover from surgery thanks to her healthy lifestyle of daily workouts,  cold water swimming and drinking green juice

The Princess of Wales is likely to recover well from her abdominal surgery thanks to her healthy lifestyle.

Kate Middleton, 42, was admitted to The London Clinic in Marylebone on Monday for a planned procedure. It is said to have been a success and the Princess is now ‘doing well’ in her recovery, according to Palace sources. 

The future Queen is expected to remain in hospital for ten to 14 days after which she will return home to Windsor to continue her recovery with the support of her family, Kensington Palace said. It is understood not to be cancerous.

While the time to take to recover from abdominal surgery can vary massively, Kate is likely to be back and fighting fit soon thanks to he healthy lifestyle.

The royal is very sporty, enjoying swimming, hockey, tennis and CrossFit. She also eats a healthy diet of green juice, vegetables and lean protein. 

Speaking to England wheelchair rugby league team in January last year, the mother-of-three revealed how she’s encouraged her children to be competitive about sports, and how she takes every chance she gets to squeeze in exercise into her daily routine. 

‘I do it all: whenever I can squeeze in exercise I do, even jumping on the trampoline with the children before school.’

One source close to the royal said she has an ‘almost army level of fitness’, loves to do the plank – a move dreaded by many gym goers – and does calisthenics, aerobic exercise, skipping, indoor rowing and intense interval training every morning, a regime which takes her an hour.

An avid sportswoman from a young age, Kate was captain of the hockey team of St Andrew’s prep school in Berkshire, when she studied from 1986 to 1995, and is also a keen tennis player. 

One royal insider told the Mail on 2016: ‘Kate is an exercise junkie. Pippa and Kate take their toned physiques extremely seriously. And mother Carole, in her 60s, is in extremely good shape.’ 

Speaking to Mike Tindall’s, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast last year, Kate also revealed she’s a fan of cold water swimming.

‘I really, genuinely love all sports. Personally, I love swimming wherever I can.

‘Cold swimming – the colder, the better. I absolutely love it. Slightly to the point where William’s [saying], “You’re crazy” and it’s dark and it’s raining.

‘I will go and seek out cold water. I love it,’ she said.

In the same podcast, the Princess also revealed she was forced to run barefoot in a parents’ race on sports day, in what many people will think is reminiscent Diana’s famous dash during William’s sports day in 1989.

Kate said: ‘There are lots of schools that have banned parents’ races because it has become far too competitive.’

When asked if she would take part, she replied: ‘We have done!’

The princess added: ‘We were told categorically there was no parents’ race. But then they called a last-minute parents’ race, and me with the competitive side, both of us were like… we have to take part.’

‘So I had to do it in bare feet.’

William said: ‘I came second. I started off just running, joining in and looked round. I was quite far out in front and there was an Italian dad in front and I thought I’ve got to catch him.’

Kate: ‘And I ran in barefeet in the same race.

When it comes to her fitness go-to, Kate’s secret is ‘The Plank’, a hard-core exercise that requires no equipment, a source previously told the Mail.

‘It tightens her muscles,’ a source previously told the Mail.

‘There are three elements, the basic plank, the side plank and the prone sky dive, all of which are positions Kate can hold for 45 seconds or longer and repeat at least ten times each.’

Her giant bouncy Swiss gym ball also gets daily use to maintain those toned abs, and according to one onlooker: ‘George is highly amused whenever he sees [his mother on it].’

It is thought Kate has relied on the guidance of her sister Pippa in order to find her fitness groove, and the two have previously exercised together. 

One royal insider revealed that the two sisters were regular visitors of the Kensington Palace gym, focusing on cardio, lunches, squats and push-ups.

Kate has been known to enjoy a very varied range of sports, from sailing to skiing. 

Before her marriage to Prince William, in 2007, she took part in the Sisterhood Challenge, a rowing event where women of all sporting abilities could take part to raise money for a selection of charities close to the organisers’ hearts. 

Sporty Kate was seen leading her team’s operation on the Thames in London during training. 

As a working royal, the Princess of Wales has also taken part in several sailing events, never hesitating to hop on board to ride the waves with experienced sailors. 

Kate is also an avid runner, and loves to go for a jog with her dogs. 

During an appearance on House of Rugby, Mike Tindall was asked which royals he’d include in his dream rugby team. ‘I’ve got the Duchess of Cambridge on one wing because she loves running, she can run all day. Engine!’ he replied. 

She is also a member of the Harbour Club, a swanky London gym costing £325 a month, on top of a £1555 joining fee. 

The establishment is also frequented by Prince William and was beloved by his mother Princess Diana, Hello! reported. 

She’s also enlisted personal trainers to help her stay in shape, including the so-called ‘figure magician’ Louise Parker, whose methods she reportedly followed after giving birth to Prince George. 

Louise coaches people to think about weight loss as a lifestyle change rather than a diet and favours Mediterranean ingredients.

In her book, The Louise Parker Method: Lean for Life, she explained her programme in more detail as a lifestyle change and wrote: ‘I loathe dieting. I’m actually on a mission to end it.’

Among the principles she instilled in her clients were positive thinking, self-care and living well, eating three balanced meals a day and ‘intelligent’ exercise – such as the Princess of Wales’s CrossFit workout.

The practice was created by a Californian trainer called Greg Glassman. 

It aims to turn its many followers into muscle machines with a ruthless combination of resistance training, weights, running and squats.

Through the routine, Kate has reached, through fanatical practice, ‘almost army fitness level,’ a source revealed. 

The trainer explained in 2017: ‘The secret to permanent weight loss is this: there is no secret!

‘There’s not a cleanse, a detox, a ‘superfood’ on the planet that will give you lasting results.’

She promised that her programme is one that you will only ever need to follow once and that will keep the weight off for good.

Her Louise Parker Method uses a simple set of principles that re-sets your lifestyle and gets you the body you want, permanently and effortlessly.

She said: ‘It’s a real-life solution to permanent weight loss and optimum health while allowing all the pleasures of life – in moderation – to keep you sane and healthy. It is not about calorie counting or deprivation.’

She added: ‘Don’t think of this as a bootcamp or a diet. It is the start to a new normal with consistency at the heart of it.

‘During my programmes, I teach clients to get the best possible fat-burning results, in a way that’s so sustainable that our style of eating is going to become a habit.

And team sports are also a key way for Kate to stay fit.

Kate love for a game of tennis is well-documented and she was often spotted playing the sport at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, where annual membership costs from £1,600-a-year, when she and the Prince of Wales were based at Kensington Palace in London. 

Kate was a regular at the private members’ club and took tennis lessons for a number of years, becoming a ‘good minor athlete’ with a ‘nice top spin’, according to one report. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales are also said to make the most of their tennis court in Anmer Hall in Norfolk. 

 In 2021, she faced off against British ace Emma Raducanu for a friendly spar, and impressed with her impeccable game.

Kate is also a good friend of tennis champion Roger Federer and the two have been reported to have faced each other across the court privately.

Speaking to James Haskell on the Good, the Bad and the Rugby podcast,  Kate joked: ‘I’m really not that competitive. I don’t know where this has come from’.

She then admits: ‘I don’t think we have actually managed to finish a game of tennis the two of us. It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.’

William says: ‘It’s who can [mentally outdo] each other.’

Before she met the Prince of Wales, Kate’s first love was hockey, a sport she practice during her studies at her beloved St Andrew’s prep school, in Pangbourne, Berkshire, from 1986 to 1995. 

So strong was her love for the sport that she was captain of the team and has credited St Andrew’s for helping her discover her love sport. 

During a visit to the prep school in 2012, the Princess of Wales described her time at St Andrew’s as some of the ‘happiest years of my life.’‪

During her trip to the school, she opened its new Astroturf hockey pitch, and reflected on the active lifestyle she enjoyed while studying there.  

‘It was while I was here at school that I realised my love of sport. Sport has been a huge part of my life, and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities I had to get outside and play in such wonderful open spaces – though sadly there was nothing quite as glamorous as this in my time!

‘I hope that you all enjoy playing sport here as much as I used to, and make the most of these incredible facilities.’