All smiles and surrounded by her children: Kensington Palace released the first official photo of Princess Kate since her surgery in mid-January, ending a long and unusual media absence, which sparked speculation about her state of health .
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With this photo, does the palace hope to put an end to these questions? Its publication comes in any case after an eventful week, with the publication of an unposed photo in American media specializing in celebrities, and confusion surrounding the presence of the princess at an official event next June.
The last official public appearance of Prince William’s wife dates back to the royal family’s Christmas mass in Sandringham (east of England) at the end of December, two and a half months ago, an unprecedented discretion for the popular princess, whose travels very often make the headlines in the British media.
In this official photo taken by William, according to Kensington Palace, and posted on the couple’s official social media accounts, Kate sits smiling on a lawn chair, dressed in jeans, a sweater and a dark jacket, surrounded by her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, laughing.
The photo was taken “in Windsor earlier this week,” the palace said.
“Thank you for your well wishes and continued support over the past two months. I wish everyone a happy Mother’s Day”, celebrated in the United Kingdom this Sunday, indicates the short message signed “C” (for Catherine) and which accompanies the photo.
If the actions of the royal family are always scrutinized by the press, the communication around the operation and Kate’s convalescence has raised many questions, even criticism, including in the tabloids, although they are very favorable to the couple. that she trains with William.
Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that the princess had undergone a “scheduled” abdominal operation the day before in a London clinic, without specifying the cause, but denying that it was linked to cancer.
Relaying Kate’s “wish” “that her personal medical information remains private”, he indicated that she would not participate in any official public engagements before Easter. William had also reduced his schedule to stay with his wife and their children.
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Twelve days later, the palace said the princess had returned to her home in Windsor. And since then, nothing, or almost nothing, except a short statement at the end of February while questions piled up in the press, to indicate that it “continues to do well”, after the cancellation of a public commitment by Prince William for an unspecified “personal reason”.
But this week, the palace’s precise communication was put to the test. First, with the publication on Monday in two American media specializing in celebrities of a photo of Kate, dark glasses on her nose, sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by her mother.
The image was not picked up by British newspapers, in line with the official request to respect the family’s privacy during the princess’s convalescence.
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The next day, another hiccup: the Ministry of Defense mentions on one of its websites that the princess will participate on June 8 in one of the military parades organized for the official birthday of the sovereign.
Obviously taken by surprise, Kensington Palace, which manages Kate and William’s agenda, does not confirm, while royal sources affirm that it was not consulted in advance by the government, which ultimately withdrew the mention of Kate’s presence.
The communication around Kate’s state of health contrasts in any case with the transparency effort led by Buckingham Palace around the cancer from which Charles III suffers. Although his nature has not been clarified, the king is regularly photographed in the few official functions he continues to perform, mainly interviews with the prime minister or foreign diplomats.