Kate Middleton is in the middle of her recovery period from her planned abnormal surgery. The Princess of Wales will stay at her home of Adelaide Cottage to recover until Easter, but no one knows precisely how long it will take before she is back on royal duty.
Over the years, Kate has had some health scares, and one even began when she was a child. During her pregnancies, she suffered from terrible morning illness. But that is, in fact, not the only type of illness that has given her issues in the last few years.
A while ago, a news report revealed that Kate has had another, quite lesser-known, illness. If not, at least it was bizarre for what she was doing at the time.
On Monday, January 29, Kensington Palace shared news that Kate Middleton would finally leave The London Clinic and reunite with her husband and children at their Windsor home.
“The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress,” Kensington Palace said in a statement Monday.
“The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided,” it continued. “The Wales family continues to be grateful for the well wishes they have received from around the world.”
Kate Middleton issued warning from doctor after surgery
Kate spent almost two weeks at the London Clinic before returning to Windsor. Now, she is set to remain at home to recover from her abdominal surgery and won’t be returning to her royal duties before Easter.
The Princess of Wales has always been very active, playing tennis with her children and, as she has described before, loves jumping on the trampoline with them.
However, a doctor says she won’t be doing any of it for quite a while.
Even though Kate Middleton has been surrounded by some of the best doctors at the London Clinic, that doesn’t mean they can “heal” her body any quicker. She will rest for some weeks before Easter arrives, and yet, while she reportedly has done some work from her hospital bed, doing too much too early can be a severe health risk.
According to Dr. Max Pemberton, a full-time psychiatrist with the NHS, returning to work too soon can be devastating. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Pemberton says that Kate must “not rush back” after her surgery and issues a warning.
“The Palace has said she’ll be taking time off official duties until Easter and on this, I think she’s incredibly sensible. We don’t know what’s wrong or why she needed the operation, but Kate has always struck me as quite down-to-earth, level-headed and stoical, so I’m sure she wouldn’t have heeded medical advice and taken that much time off unless really necessary,” he said.
“Abdominal surgery is serious. Of course, there’s always someone who will tell you how they had a hysterectomy in their lunch break, or their appendix removed while on the school run. But in reality we should all be taking a leaf out of Kate’s book and convalescing properly.”
Kate Middleton sent a “beautiful letter” after surgery to grieving widow
As mentioned, Kate Middleton is said to have done some royal work from her bed. One might think she would take the time to recover and not work, but she wants to serve the people from the bed.
Also, now, it has been revealed that Kate Middleton, after her surgery, has sent an emotional letter to comfort a television host whose husband had died.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Kate Garraway, whose husband, television host Derek Draper, passed away in January following complications from COVID-19, expressed her gratitude towards all the viewers who had sent their condolences.
Meanwhile, celebrities such as David and Victoria Beckham had sent a letter to Garraway. And it turns out that Kate Middleton and King Charles did the same.
“And from the royal family — Catherine and William sent a beautiful letter, and I know Catherine has been in hospital herself,” Garraway said, as reported by Hello.
“Even the King — because there is somebody [who] knows about grief — that anticipatory grief where you know something has a risk of happening and how different it is when it does happen.”
While Kate Middleton decided to keep some of her medical details private, a while ago, the Mirror revealed that Kate felt sick at Trooping the Colour due to a ‘lesser-known illness,’ which left royal fans concerned.
Kate’s lesser-known illness at Trooping the Colour revealed
The paper reported that Kate felt ill while riding the horse-drawn carriage. The swaying of the old, vintage coach had made her nauseous. And according to the Mirror, it was down to motion sickness.
In 2011, the then Duchess of Cambridge decided to ride by car and not by carriage to her wedding with Prince William. Queen Elizabeth was also seasick, even though she often sailed in her Royal Yacht Britannia, and recommended her favorite pills to Kate.
“The truth is the Duchess of Cambridge gets very seasick and doesn’t enjoy the rocking motion of carriages,” a royal source told the Mirror. “Worrying she may be ill on such an important occasion as Trooping the Colour added to her stress. Protocol meant she had no choice but to go by state carriage.”
At the time, Buckingham Palace was “unable to comment” on Kate’s motion sickness.
Speaking with the paper, Dr. Qadeer Arshad of Imperial College London said, “Motion sickness is down to mixed messages coming from your ears and eyes.
He added, “The most effective drug makes you drowsy so wouldn’t be suitable for royals before a state occasion.”
Getting sea sickness might not be exactly the same, but if not, it is in the same area as morning sickness. Unfortunately, Kate Middleton has plenty of experience with that, too.
Kate’s “rotten” condition when pregnant put her in the hospital
In 2012, when she was pregnant with their firstborn son, she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which is acute morning sickness. She had to go to the hospital, an experience she recalled as “rotten.”
Kate had the same experience when pregnant with Charlotte and Louis, and in 2014, she had to cancel a royal tour because of her diagnosis.
Last year, during a visit to the Orchards Centre in Kent, the Princess of Wales decided to open up about her experience with acute morning sickness.
As reported by Express, Kate spoke to a father whose wife went through the same thing and told him: “I went through that. I know what that feels like.”
In 2020, Kate Middleton was a guest on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, speaking on her condition.
“[It was] utterly rotten. I was really sick,” she said. “I wasn’t eating the things I should be eating and yet the body was still able to take all the goodness from my body and to grow new life, which I think is fascinating.”
“William didn’t feel he could do much to help and it’s hard to see you’re suffering without actually being able to do anything about it.”
Kate Middleton added that she “quite liked” labor because she had felt bad during her pregnancy.
“Because actually, it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to,” she explained. “But I know some people have really, really difficult times, so it’s not for everybody. No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same.”
“It was definitely a challenge”
Moreover, Kate began meditating and deep breathing – which helped.
“I saw the power of it really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that, that they teach you in hypnobirthing, when I was really sick,” she said. “I got very bad morning sickness, so I’m not the happiest of pregnant people.”
The podcast host Giovanna Fletcher later asked, “Have you had it every time or just the first time?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Kate responded. “Lots of people have it far, far worse, but it was definitely a challenge. Not just for me but also for your loved ones around you – and I think that’s the thing – being pregnant and having a newborn baby and things like that, impacts everybody in the family.”
Kate’s abdominal surgery was said to have been planned for some time. However, reports stated that the Princess of Wales hid her surgery from people close to the royals, and only close family and friends knew about it.
The mother of three spent plenty of time at the hospital as she gave birth to her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, but from what we know, this is not the first known surgery Kate’s gone through, as she underwent one as a child.
Kate Middleton had “serious operation” as a child
When she was young, Kate Middleton had a three-inch scar on the left side of her head. The scar was first spotted at a private dinner at Clarence House in 2011 when Kate conducted her first solo royal engagement.
Sources told the Daily Mail that it had been “a very serious operation,” while surgeons said it was unlikely the result of a tumor but instead that the scar was caused by a birthmark being removed.
Later, an official statement explained that “the scar related to a childhood operation,” however details remained private.
