BAFTA President Prince William will likely skip the BAFTAs for the eighth time

We learned this week that the Princess of Wales was admitted into a London hospital on Tuesday for a scheduled surgery. Kate is still in the hospital, and she will be there for the next two weeks or so, then she will have a lengthy recovery. One commenter correctly pointed out that something was missing from Kensington Palace’s statement on the matter: an assertion that Kate would make a full recovery. They’re actually telegraphing the fact that this is incredibly serious, which does beg the question: why aren’t they disclosing more information?

Meanwhile, there’s been some chatter in the British media about how they (the media) were blindsided by the news. The Mail pointed out that Kate has not been seen since Christmas Day, 23 (now 24) days ago. As I said yesterday, that’s quite normal – Kate rarely works post-Christmas, and she can go a full month or longer without being seen or doing any events this time of year. Interestingly, the Mail also had an article about how William has only been seen once post Christmas – he did an event last week, his first and only event of 2024. Now they’re saying William will miss a slew of appearances in February, including the BAFTAs.

Prince William will likely miss the BAFTAs among other engagements to stay by his wife’s side as she recovers from abdominal surgery. The Princess of Wales is being treated in hospital after undergoing a successful abdominal operation, Kensington Palace revealed today.

Kate Middleton, 42, was admitted to The London Clinic in Marylebone yesterday for the planned procedure and is expected to remain in hospital for ten to 14 days, and then recover at home in Windsor. The Prince of Wales will stay by his wife’s and children’s side throughout and will not undertake official duties while his wife is in hospital, and during the immediate period following her return home.

He therefore postpone a number of engagements, including the BAFTAs on 18th February, the Six Nations which kicks off in two weeks and various charity events. William, who is the Patron of Welsh Rugby team, will likely miss any Six Nations Games. Next month, France and Ireland will kick off this year’s Six Nations Championship on February 2, for a game at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille. That weekend will also see games from England versus Italy in Rome and Wales versus Scotland in Cardiff – which the Prince and Princess of Wales are not expected to attend.

William was also due to undertake Investitures through January and February which he will now miss. Princess Anne is likely to step in his place. Last year William also made an appearance at the BAFTAs, he has been President of the Academy since February 2010, but he will likely miss out this year.

Last week, the Prince of Wales, without Kate, met rugby legend Rob Burrow to present him his CBE.

The royals usually return to work from the Christmas break in mid-January. Last year, William and Kate opened Royal Liverpool University Hospital on January 12th.

And we’re unlike to see the Prince of Shrove Tuesday this year either – unless the couple have perhaps filmed anything for a segment in advance. The Prince and Princess of Wales were also set to be making a high-profile visit to Rome in the spring as part of a European charm offensive, which now may also be cancelled. Last month, The Mail revealed that talks were under way at the highest level about William and Kate’s first trip to Italy and a date had been ‘pencilled in’.

[From The Daily Mail]

Re: the BAFTAs… that’s why the BAFTA president should have been showing up to the BAFTAs this whole time, since he assumed the presidency in 2010. Instead, he’s skipped the ceremony SEVEN times, usually for no particular reason other than “I didn’t feel like it.” Now that he actually has a legitimate reason – his wife’s poor health – it’s like the boy who cried wolf. He will be sad to miss the rugby games, although it would have been iffy for him to travel to France anyway, especially given his reticence to do his job as Football Association President and attend the Women’s World Cup last year (when England made the final).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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