This month, things have become stranger. King Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales, are both currently in the same hospital in London, and the Crown Inc. is going through its greatest health crisis since that one time when the lobster theme turned out to be off.
Why haven’t Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis visited their mother? The strange doesn’t end there.
The princess and mother of three has been at the London Clinic for stomach surgery for 12 days already, and her three little children haven’t seen her for at least 12 days.
Prince William, who had placed his out-of-office time on to take on the role of full-time father the day after the Kate news was revealed, was spotted driving his $268,000 electric Audi out of the Clinic.
Since then, the prince has visited his wife every day, according to reports from the Sun and the Daily Mail. This is all very nice, but it’s really just to play.
What about Kate’s siblings Pippa Matthews and James Middleton, with whom she is close, and her loving parents Carole and Michael Middleton? (Kate “came to some of my therapy sessions” and was “by my side during the hardest of times as well,” according to James, who has written about having severe depression.)
It is also not a case of William wishing to shield his children from the scary, intrusive long lenses of the global press.
“The media have agreed not to have photographers [outside the hospital], not to have camera crews, not to have journalists, to allow [Kate] to recuperate from her operation in privacy and also to respect the privacy of the other patients,” according to Rebecca English, royal editor of the Daily Mail.
In order to visit their mother in private and without being noticed, William or the Middletons could simply transport George, Charlotte, and Louis in and out of the hospital.
What about the weekend that was just over? Here, the word “but” is bolded and double-, triple-, and triple-underlined.
According to the Sun, they chose not to go, instead engaging in some (presumably) idle chatter about their “doting” Middleton grandparents’ $7 million Bucklebury home.
Even though Carole and Michael are allowed to “dote” as much as they like, delivering as many sticky buns, sweet delicacies, and deliciously gloopy ice creams as they can find, is that still preferable to receiving a hug from their mother?
Again, the distance between Kate’s hospital and the Waleses’ house, Adelaide Cottage, is only roughly 45 minutes by car, so it’s hardly a logistical issue that might be keeping a family reunion from happening.
When you look at the wider picture, all of this becomes even more strange. The Waleses are passionate parents who are fully committed to being as involved in their children’s lives as possible, yet a royal pundit can hardly move properly without tripping across some narrative that strenuously flogs the line.
Consider the fact that the prince and princess take time off from school almost every week, or 19 weeks out of the year, to engage in bonding activities that most likely involve games of Pooh sticks and matching muddy wellies.
As they deal with her health condition, William and Kate’s new slogan is “100% family first, day job second,” a royal aide told Roya Nikkhah of the Sunday Times last week.
Is it okay if the children aren’t taken to visit Kate?
I recognize that no child wants to see a parent in a medical facility. It would be distressing and frightening. They would, however, probably rather see their mother for a much-needed dose of mumming and to confirm that she is on the mend than not.
Royals “don’t tend to visit each other in hospital, or at least only very rarely,” according to a claim made by the Mail’s English.
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