Over the past year or so, even the royalist media writes about Prince William and Kate like they’re already separated. Have you noticed that? While the cover story – reinforced endlessly by palace briefings – is that William, Kate and their three children absolutely ALL live at Adelaide Cottage together, I strongly suspect that nothing is as it seems. I also suspect that many in the press and the royal institution know that the Wales marriage is in pretty rough shape. I was just thinking about that as I read this curious update in the Mail about how Kate plans to join her husband and children in Balmoral this summer.
The Princess of Wales is set to join the Royal Family at Balmoral this month in what will be her longest journey since her cancer diagnosis, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Prince William and Kate have decamped to the 50,000-acre estate in the Scottish Highlands each summer since their wedding in 2011, but some insiders feared this year could be different due to the princess’s health.
Since the announcement that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in March, Kate has mostly balanced her time between Adelaide Cottage, their home in Windsor, and Anmer Hall, their holiday home in Norfolk, which are around 125 miles apart. The Princess, 42, also travelled the short distance to London for Trooping the Colour in June and to Wimbledon for the men’s singles final in July, both of which are an hour’s drive from Windsor.
But sources have confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that Kate will join her husband and their three children north of the border this summer.
Her attendance will be seen by many as further reassurance that the princess is making ‘good progress’ after her diagnosis.
In June she told the public in an emotional message she was ‘not out of the woods yet’ and had ‘good days and bad days’, adding that her treatment would continue for ‘a few more months’.
It’s not like William and Kate have ever stayed in Balmoral for the length of their summer vacation. They usually only go for about three or four days. Even when QEII was alive, they kept their visits brief. I guess the assumption this year was that William would bring the kids to Balmoral with or without Kate, and now KP is doing the most to ensure that “Kate is missing again” isn’t a conversation. That being said, no one checks for Kate anymore in the summer. She’s spent years going missing for three months every summer, so this seems pretty normal for her. My question is whether we’ll even see Kate before Remembrance Day in November.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red./small>