Two months after the operation, Palace releases a photo of Catherine
Nearly two months after undergoing abdominal surgery, Catherine, Princess of Wales, appeared in an official photo released by Kensington Palace on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day in Britain.
Catherine, who posed with her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, has not been seen in public since entering hospital on January 16, sparking a swirl of increasingly far-fetched rumors on social media about her condition.
The image of a smiling Catherine surrounded by her family will likely bring an extraordinary distraction to the British royal family, who are also dealing with a cancer diagnosis for King Charles III. But it didn’t completely eliminate questions about the 42-year-old princess.
Kensington Palace, where Catherine and her husband, Prince William, have their offices, has not released any new details about her condition or recovery. It said the photo was taken by William last week in Windsor, where the family lives in Adelaide Cottage, in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
In a post on social media Alongside the photo, Catherine said: ‘Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the past two months. I wish everyone a happy Mother’s Day.”
Last week, American gossip site TMZ posted a grainy paparazzi shot of Catherine riding in a car driven by her mother. British newspapers and broadcasters reported extensively on the photo but did not publish it, heeding the palace’s call for her to be privately restored.
The British news media has struggled to cover Catherine, torn between a voracious public appetite for news about a future queen and the British habit of giving even public figures the right to privacy in health matters.
Kensington Palace has released virtually no information about Catherine’s surgery or recovery, saying only that she will not resume her official duties until after Easter. She was last seen in public on Christmas Day at Sandringham, the royal family’s country residence, where she attended church services with her family.
Catherine was not seen leaving the London Clinic, in the Marylebone area of the city, on January 29, where she had spent 13 days after the operation. There were no photos of her being visited in the hospital by her husband or children, and there was only one shot of William driving near the hospital during that period.
Charles, on the other hand, was photographed leaving the same hospital after being treated for an enlarged prostate. Doctors discovered he had cancer during that procedure, Buckingham Palace later announced. The revelation was a break from the family tradition of exercising restraint in disclosing health issues.
But the palace has also left questions about the king, without specifying what type of cancer he has or what his prognosis is. Although he has suspended public appearances to undergo weekly treatment, Charles has continued to work. He was photographed holding his weekly meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and speaking via video link to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
Charles and Catherine’s health problems have made this an anxious winter for the royal family. The ranks have already been shrunk by the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 and her husband, Prince Philip, a year earlier, as well as the bitter split with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who moved to California in 2020.
Early Saturday morning, a car crashed into the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. Neither Charles nor his wife, Queen Camilla, were present at the time, the palace said on Sunday, adding that police had arrested the driver. London newspapers published images of a kneeling figure surrounded by police officers shouting: “Keep your hands on your head.” The police did not mention a motive.
Questions about Catherine reached a peak last week with the paparazzi shot, sparking debate on social media about whether it was actually her. There was also confusion over an announcement by the British military that Catherine would attend Trooping the Colour, a military ceremony marking the sovereign’s birthday, in June.
Kensington Palace appealed to the Ministry of Defense, saying it alone confirms the public appearances of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Army pulled the announcement from its website later that day.
In Catherine’s extended absence, the only hint about her condition came from her uncle, Gary Goldsmith, who appeared last week on a British reality TV show ‘Celebrity Big Brother’. Mr Goldsmith, 58, said his niece received “the best care in the world” but gave no other details about her health.