There’s a Chance Princess Kate May Not Return to Public Duty Until 2025, As Her “Diary for This Year Is Empty”

Last week, Marie Claire reported that friends of the Princess of Wales predicted that her return to public duty could be sometime this autumn—but, according to The Daily Beast, her leave may extend even beyond that, with Kate possibly not returning to royal work until 2025.

Sources told that outlet that Kate “may not appear in public for the rest of the year” and that her diary for 2024 was “empty”; they also added they “would not rule out another video message updating the country on her health.”

Friends told Tom Sykes of The Daily Beast that Kate and her family—husband Prince William and children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—are expected to spend next week at Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate, as the kids are on a school holiday. Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, “are thought likely to visit,” Sykes wrote. William, for his part, “is expected to devote even more time to his family over the next six weeks, having been unexpectedly gifted time off after the royal family said they would be stepping back from some engagements to avoid distracting from a snap U.K. general election called this week and due to take place on July 4.”

Harkening back to the machine that is the royal diary, “Lots of people involved in planning need to know what all the principals are doing a long way in advance,” a source speaking to Sykes said. “I am told that Kate’s diary for this year is empty. There is nothing planned. She may not appear in public for the rest of the year.”

To deal with a possible resurgence of speculation and, even worse, conspiracy theories egged on by a prolonged absence from public duty, they said to combat that “I would not rule out another video message updating the country on her health. That proved to be a very effective way of keeping the conspiracy theorists at bay.”

After her last video message—released on March 22, where Kate announced she was receiving treatment for cancer—the Wales family of five escaped to Anmer Hall for nearly a month. They intend to do the same for this latest school break, as “The key thing for her now is avoiding any kind of stress or anxiety and just getting on with the business of getting better,” a friend of William and Kate’s told The Daily Beast. “They will bail out and be off to Sandringham the moment school breaks up.” 

Though Kate’s office declined to comment to the outlet as to when Kate would next be seen in public or whether she was working from home, one courtier said “The princess is continuing her recovery at home. She continues to need the space and time to prioritize her privacy, as she said in her video.”