Where is the Princess of Wales?

Tuesday’s statement about Prince William was terse to the point of being unhelpful. “The Prince of Wales has pulled out of attending the memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle due to a personal matter.” Granted, William has been unusually active during the past few weeks. One minute he has been photographed hobnobbing with the stars at the BAFTAs, the next has been diving into controversy by calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East. Therefore, his absence from the memorial service could be down to anything from exhaustion to some minor but unpleasant personal complaint.

Kate has not been seen in public for weeks, nor has she put out any sort of personal statement

Unfortunately, “a personal matter” covers a multitude of potential reasons. The main one that royal watchers have alighted upon is the ongoing indisposition of the Princess of Wales. Kate has not been seen in public for weeks, nor has she put out any sort of personal statement after her hospitalization at the London Clinic for a still-mysterious health condition. The only information given out at the time was that she was not suffering from cancer — unlike the king, whose own health issues have been made public with considerably more candor and detail than the princess’s. And since then, all has been silent.

It would be both distasteful and prurient to list the various conspiracy theories that exist about Kate’s health issues, but the fact that so many exist is testament to Kensington Palace. They have handled this particular matter in an old-fashioned way, sticking to the royal adage of “never complain, never explain” with great rigor. The princess’s health concerns, they no doubt believe, are none of the country’s business and that adequate statements have already been put out in public. She has a medical condition; she has been operated on and is now recuperating; she is expected to resume royal duties after Easter. This should, the palace presumably feels, have been the end of the matter, and no further comment or clarification is necessary.

The difficulty is that the king’s simultaneous health concerns have been dealt with quite differently, even to the extent of pictures being released of his having his audience with the British prime minister last week. If the aim was to reassure his subjects that, despite what is undoubtedly a grueling and tiring course of treatment, he is still able to operate as monarch. This did the trick admirably. The king and Buckingham Palace may have chosen not to reveal the kind of cancer that he is suffering from, but otherwise they have been clear and, apparently, honest about all the details of his condition. Rumors may still be flying around, but they are a good deal less widespread than the steady drumbeat of gossip and intrigue that surrounds his daughter-in-law.

Kensington Palace, then, have boxed themselves into a corner. If they now choose to make Kate’s medical issues explicit, they will be setting a precedent that will then be called upon if ever there are any private family matters that would usually be kept out of the public domain. Yet if they do not, then the din of gossip will only grow louder, and such statements as today’s will be regarded as little more than a cover-up, diverting from a bigger story. It is an unenviable choice to make but perhaps they could take a leaf from the king’s more candid approach and dispel what will otherwise become material for every conspiracist in the country.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.