“Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery,” the palace said. “The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery.”
The palace added that the 42-year-old princess, wife of Prince William, the heir to the throne, and mother to the couple’s three children, will not be returning to her official duties until after Easter in April.
The princess was last seen in public on Christmas Day with her family, attending church services, near the royal estate in Sandringham.
The palace can be tight-lipped about royal health.
When Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 at age 96 the official cause was described as “old age,” according to her death certificate. Before her death, the palace noted that the monarch was suffering from “mobility” issues, to explain her use of a cane and her scaled back schedule.
The queen’s husband, Prince Philip, also died of “old age” at 99. The palace did report on several of the prince’s earlier hospital visits — a bladder infection in 2012; exploratory abdominal surgery in 2013; and hip replacement surgery in 2018.
A month before he died in April 2021, Philip underwent “a successful procedure for his existing heart condition” the palace said at the time.
When then Prince Charles tested positive for covid in 2020, the palace issued a statement, while he was in isolation. However, the public did not learn that his son William had also suffered from covid until six months after the fact — and then only because royal reporters found out.
The palace statement on Wednesday noted that the Princess of Wales “appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”
The palace said they will only provide updates on her progress “when there is significant new information to share.”
