On Christmas Day, Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, wearing head-to-toe royal blue. She walked to church with her husband, Prince William, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, much like she had in years past.
Greeting the gathered crowds and the cameras, “She looked lovely for the occasion,” said Town & Country.
The princess has not been seen in public since.
Three weeks later, on Jan. 17, Kensington Palace announced that Catherine, 42, formerly known as Kate Middleton, had been admitted to the London Clinic to undergo “a planned abdominal surgery.”
The surprise news about Catherine’s health was magnified by the fact that, just an hour later, the palace announced that King Charles III, 75, would receive treatment for an enlarged prostate the next week. Two of the most senior members of Britain’s royal family were now facing health trials.
As news started to return to normal — on Wednesday King Charles was photographed being driven from his home, Clarence House, and he has resumed some official business, including meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — rumors began to surface again about the Princess of Wales. Although Prince William, 41, also scaled back his royal duties during his wife’s recuperation, this week, he bowed out of a planned appearance at a memorial service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor for his godfather, King Constantine of the Hellenes, who died in January 2023.
That led a palace source to address the latest twist in the saga, and perhaps try to stop the rumors, in language that did anything but. The princess, the source told People, “continues to be doing well.”
