Kate’s return to public life ‘revealed’ as William discusses wife’s absence – live

The Princess of Wales will make a “soft return” to public life over Easter weekend once she has fully recovered from her surgery, according to a report.

Kate has not undertaken any official engagements or been in the public eye since having a successful procedure on her abdomen in January.

Amid intense online speculation about Kate’s whereabouts, she and her husband William, the Prince of Wales, were spotted visiting a farm shop near where they live over the weekend and royal aides are now drawing up plans for the princess to return.

Palace aides have been discussing with Kate the possibility of her walking to church on Easter Sunday to join other family members for the annual Easter matins service which takes place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, according to The Times.

The paper said a team of palace officials was working to manage the “messaging” around Kate’s return to make her transition back to work as smooth as possible.

The monarch could opt to be driven from Buckingham Palace in a carriage as his late mother Queen Elizabeth II used to from 1987 onwards, and watch the military procession celebrating the British sovereign’s official birthday from a podium rather than on horseback.

The King usually rides back to Buckingham Palace at the head of his Guards.

It comes as the 75-year-old monarch, who is undergoing cancer treatment, continues with his head of state duties – including face-to-face audiences – despite not carrying out official engagements in public.

TMZ, the USA’s behemoth showbiz site, insisted the palace has “got caught in a lie … confidence is shot”. Time magazine ran a similar editorial: “The royal family has a trust problem.” Both have a point, but Kensington Palace doesn’t see it like that. And nor do Britain’s supposedly attack-dog tabloids.

The same day America demanded accountability, The Sun newspaper urged its readers to “Lay off Kate” and an unusually rueful Daily Mail mused “How did Kate’s photo become a PR disaster?”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their royal duties in January 2020, but their profiles were higher on the royal family website until yesterday.

But their details and bio temporarily vanished from the site on Monday night. They reappeared half an hour later at the bottom of the page, alongside the Duke of York, The Daily Mail reported.

Is this 1936 all over again? Is there a secret royal scandal brewing, about which we, as loyal subjects, will be kept in the dark until a foreign newspaper or obscure bishop blurts it all out?

You, too, can become an expert in lesser-known abdominal medical conditions, the esoteric byways of the Norfolk aristocracy, and the intricacies of what can be amateurishly achieved with Photoshop.

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A Princess of Wales lookalike has responded to speculation that it is she, and not Kate, in the video of the Wales’s shopping in Windsor.

Heidi Agan, who has impersonated Kate for over a decade, said her social media has “gone crazy” with people thinking she is standing beside William in the footage.

But debunking the theories, she told the Mirror: “I was at work at the time so I know that is not me. I 100 per cent believe that is Kate Middleton and William in that video.”

While visiting a housing workshop in Sheffield to promote his new homelessness project, William made a touching remark about Kate.

Referring to her commitment to Early Years projects, he said: “That’s my wife’s area, she needs to sit here.”

Donald Trump has claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “broke Queen Elizabeth’s heart”.

In a preview of the interview, which airs in full at 7pm on Tuesday (19 March), Mr Trump says: “I would say, although she wouldn’t show it because she was strong and smart, but I would imagine they broke her heart.

“The things that they were saying were so bad and so horrible, and she was in her nineties hearing this stuff. I think they broke her heart.”

Mr Trump also describes the late Queen as “incredible” saying he is a “big fan” the concept of a royal family.