King Charles’s ‘Powerful’ Way of Protecting Kate Middleton During Her Hospital Stay, According to a Royal Historian
King Charles III may be on his way to the hospital, but ahead of being treated for an enlarged prostate, the “protective” monarch shielded Kate Middleton from scrutiny. The statement about the king’s “corrective procedure” coming on the heels of the Princess of Wales’s abdominal surgery announcement was, according to a historian, nothing if not “deliberate.”
King Charles ‘deflected’ attention from Kate’s abdominal surgery with a statement on his own health
On Jan. 17, 2024, in an unusual turn of events for the royal family, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace released health updates on King Charles and Kate.
It started with Kensington Palace, Kate and Prince William’s official office, announcing the mother of three had undergone a “planned” abdominal surgery a day earlier.
Following 10-14 of recuperating in the hospital, Kate’s expected to return home to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, England. There, she’ll continue her recovery before likely resuming royal duties after Easter, which falls on March 31, 2024.
Just hours later, Buckingham Palace announced King Charles, 75, would undergo a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate.
Speaking to Mirror, royal historian Dr. Tessa Dunlop called the timing of King Charles’s announcement “unprecedented and also canny.”
“Buckingham Palace doesn’t do spontaneity. The release of a statement containing private matters about the King’s health immediately after news of the Princess of Wales’s major abdominal surgery was deliberate,” she said.
“The timing deflected from his daughter-in-law’s major operation,” Dunlop went on. “Likewise, the private detail concerning his prostate gave the public something else to think about.”
The king sharing details on his health sent a ‘keep your prying eyes away’ from Kate message
“Beyond that obvious strategy,” Dunlop continued, “I believe there was something else at play.”
“By sharing a slice of the personal,” she explained, “Charles’s statement served to underline the absence of any real detail concerning Kate’s condition.”
“The protective King may as well have said, ‘Here, have some information on me. But keep your prying eyes away from my daughter-in-law.’”
“Read side-by-side, the statements are a powerful example of well-coordinated PR,” Dunlop added. “Here was a modern, public service royal family, but one with very clear boundaries.”
Indeed, the statement on King Charles’s enlarged prostate treatment did provide more details than the one about Kate.
Furthermore, Kate’s statement included a few sentences about her privacy. Kensington Palace noted that the 42-year-old wants to “maintain as much normality for her children as possible.”
Therefore, Kensington Palace will only give updates on her condition “when there is significant new information to share.”
King Charles has 3 royals to deputize for him, Kate is set to recuperate through March 2024
King Charles reportedly has three senior working royals from his list of counselors of state to help.
They include his wife, Queen Camilla, sister, Princess Anne, and brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh (via Express). However, Prince Edward’s schedule is already booked with the 59-year-old headed to St. Helena on a four-day trip.
As for why the Prince of Wales can’t lend a hand, William’s said to be focusing all of his attention on taking care of Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, during Kate’s recovery.
