Kate Middleton spent almost two weeks at The London Clinic after undergoing abdominal surgery. She’s finally back home at Adelaide Cottage, reunited with her family, where she will rest and be taken care of during her recovery period.
While she isn’t returning to royal duties before Easter, the Princess of Wales is said to have done some royal work from her bed. Still, she will have to rest, and even a doctor argued that going back to work too early could be a very serious issue.
While Kate was at The London Clinic, one can imagine that there weren’t too many things to do. However, the princess decided to support a grieving widow, penning an emotional letter while still in the hospital to show her support.
Kate Middleton has been home recovering at Adelaide Cottage after her abdominal surgery for a little over a week. There is still a long way to go, but according to an initial statement, the Princess of Wales is doing well after the surgery.
Prince William breaks silence on Kate Middleton
Since then, no official update on Kate has been given – until now.
On Wednesday night, Prince William, who canceled his royal duties during Kate’s two-week stay at The London Clinic, attended London’s Air Ambulance Charity Gala Dinner. There, Kate’s husband held a speech and thanked everyone for their kind wishes regarding both his wife as well as his father, King Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer on Monday.
“Good evening everyone. Thank you all for being here. And thank you to those whose hard work has made this evening possible. I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all. It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all,” William said.
Princess Kate is undoubtedly happy to be back home from the hospital, as she has spoken about how she doesn’t like being at one several times before.
But while at The London clinic, it’s safe to say that she was getting everything she needed.
The private hospital in central London, just one hour’s car ride from Windsor, has had many famous guests. It was opened by the then Duke and Duchess of York in 1932 and has become a hospital many celebrities have visited.
Kate Middleton’s two-week stay at The London Clinic
John F. Kennedy, then a US Congressman, was diagnosed with Addison’s disease at the clinic in 1947. In 1963, Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor underwent a knee operation at The London Clinic after falling while filming a movie.
Moreover, in 1998, the former dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet, was arrested for crimes against humanity while at a private hospital.
The royal family has been in contact with The London Clinic in several ways. Starting in the 1980s, royal family members have been officially launching several of the hospital’s facilities. In 1989, then-Prince Charles opened its physiotherapy department, and two years later, Princess Margaret opened the MRI unit. In 2010, Queen Elizabeth II visited The London Clinic to open its new cancer unit.
Today, per the Daily Mail, the private hospital has a leading cancer center where patients undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Kate Middleton isn’t the only royal family member who has been a patient there. In 1980, Princess Margaret was treated at the London Clinic to have a benign skin lesion removed, and in 2013, Prince Philip went through what was described as an “abdominal investigation.”
So, what can one expect as a patient at The London Clinic?
The large, private rooms include an electronic patient-controlled bed, a private bathroom, a large TV, and a deposit box. The food is arranged by head chef Paul O’Brien, who makes a variety of dishes for the patients.
“It was all very efficient”
Patients get their own concierge service, while the hospital’s chef serves fish from Cornish boats and meat from Smithfields Market, The Economic Times report.
Moreover, a concierge can help patients arrange travel and accommodation while also booking tours, theatre shows, and restaurants.
A former patient at The London Clinic Rooms has spoken to People about what it’s like. The person said the private hospital has “three or four different menus” to satisfy various dietary preferences and requirements.
“I had a really good experience. I think the experience is always dominated by how well your surgery goes and the best surgeons are associated with The London Clinic, who are leading in their field in both research and surgery. I had a super surgeon, it was all very efficient; I was on the operating table two hours after I went in,” the insider told People.
“The level of service was excellent,” the former patient continued.
“The food is good. It’s à la carte so if you want to make changes, they are pretty good. I was on a strict diet at the beginning, but when I had visitors, they were easily able to order whatever they wanted from the normal menu.”
Kate is not going back to royal duties until after Easter. However, that has yet to prevent her from doing some work from her bed.
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.
Kate Middleton penned letter to grieving widow from hospital bed
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.”
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 nearly a month 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. As the Princess of Wales is known to be very active, it will be challenging for her.
According to Dr Max Pemberton, a full-time psychiatrist with the NHS, returning to work too soon can be devastating.
Kate Middleton warned of going back to work to soon
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Pemberton says that Kate must “not rush back” after her surgery and issued 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.”
Dr. Max Pemberton continued describing that we, in this somewhat stressful world, all must focus on fully recovering physically and mentally before returning to work. Just like Princess Kate, Pemberton explains that he, too, has had abdominal surgery.
“Looking back, wish I’d appreciated how major my operation was and taken the time needed to recover,” he stated.
The doctor concluded, “I hope Kate makes a speedy recovery, but also hope she doesn’t return to duties until she’s good and ready.”
“It’s not an absolutely ideal place”
However, staying at Adelaide Cottage might not be the best regarding her health. At least that is what royal correspondent Michael Cole is claiming.
Speaking with GB News, the expert claimed that recovering at Adelaide Cottage is the best regarding Kate being close to her family. However, because it’s rumored to be very cold inside, it may hinder her recovery.
“It’s not an absolutely ideal place. A former tenant of Adelaide Cottage was Mrs. Rosemary Townsend, the wife of Group Captain Peter Townsend, who famously had an affair with Princess Margaret,” Michael Cole said just a day after Kate’s surgery was announced.
“And [Mrs. Rosemary Townsend] wrote in her memoirs that it was the coldest place she’d ever encountered in the whole of her life. So maybe not the best place to start feeling better, particularly in this quite cold winter that we’re enjoying at the moment.”
As Kate leaves The London Clinic and returns to Windsor, Michael Cole warns Kate Middleton to avoid recovering at Adelaide Cottage.
Meanwhile, as her parents will support her, Cole concludes that the Princess of Wales might only stay home for a while.
“It was interesting there was no departure photo call and she’s gone off straight to Adelaide Cottage in the middle of Windsor Great Park to recuperate,” he told GB News.
“That, of course, is where her children are, they go to school locally and she’ll want to be there, but it’s not an ideal place for recuperatios. It’s not terribly big. In fact, there’s no room inside the house for the nanny; she has to live in an outbuilding.”
Michael Cole concluded, “Catherine’s parents have a larger house not far away in Berkshire, but she’s on the way to recovery.”
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