For two weeks, my gut has been telling me that whatever is happening with the Princess of Wales’s health crisis and “planned” surgery, there are people within the royal rota who know some of what’s happening behind the scenes, but the information is being officially or unofficially embargoed. I keep thinking about what Omid Scobie said about how the identities of the racist royals were well-known on Fleet Street for years before Piers Morgan let the cat out of the bag. All part and parcel of the increasingly strained invisible contract, not to mention all of the side deals Prince William seems to make with various press outlets.

What’s different in this situation is that King Charles and Queen Camilla have been constantly drawing a vivid contrast between their behavior and that of William and Kate. Charles and Camilla: full disclosure of medical issues, Camilla being photographed on her many hospital visits to see her husband, and their de facto photocall after the king was discharged. In contrast, William has only been photographed once in the past month and no one has seen or heard from Kate since Christmas, plus the shenanigans about Kate “going home” yesterday. Well, the British media is only going to play Kensington Palace’s games for so long, especially when the compare-and-contrast game is this much fun. Speaking of, the Telegraph has a new piece: “What the King and Kate’s different hospital departures show about their royal instincts.” Some highlights:

Compare-and-contrast: The King walked out of hospital with a wave and a smile, his wife by his side as cameras clicked and wellwishers shouted from windows and pavements around them. Hours earlier, the Princess of Wales was ushered out of the same clinic unseen, only a written statement confirming her safe discharge home to her bed and her children. Over the course of three hours, it was a snapshot of modern royal history in the making. Two generations, two hospital stays and two very different approaches there for the watching world to see.

Together, separately: It also captures, in a neat tableau, the very different instincts of the two senior generations of the Royal family – the current King and Queen and future King and Queen working together, separately. Charles III plumped for an awareness-raising campaign and steadying stroll out of hospital to prove there is no royal crisis unfolding. The Princess quietly returned to the three children who have been without her for two weeks, offering a “huge thank you” to nursing staff and those who have sent their best wishes via statement.

The papers want to talk about how William was MIA at the hospital so bad: In this latest hospitalisation, Prince William has been photographed just once, looking as tense as one might expect a worried spouse to appear. Their children have not been seen visiting, nor have her close Middleton family.

The public hasn’t demanded details of Kate’s condition?? The Wales’s office has taken a strict policy of declining to offer updates on her unnamed condition, repeating only that she wishes for her personal medical details to remain private. In response, good taste and respect have prevailed. The Princess’s health, in a hereditary monarchy, is indeed a matter of public interest, but (aside from the sewer of social media), the British people’s restraint in demanding details is admirable. The Kensington Palace Way, to offer limited information on its own terms at its own time, is set.

The Buckingham Palace Way: The King’s team in contrast have virtually shouted his diagnosis from the rooftops, in a laudable public awareness campaign which is already bearing fruit in a measurable rise in men seeking information about prostate health. The Queen has walked in and out of the clinic no less than five times, looking visibly relieved after the procedure went well and understood to have simply wanted to keep him company….At a time of real uncertainty, with two senior royals out of action for a month, the King as Head of State has proactively shown the world he is fit and ready for work again. His image, and that of his supportive wife, will be beamed across the world in a deliberate sign that all is well.

The message: The timing, which is coincidental, meant that the spotlight of royal news was split. The King has done his duty by steadying the ship. The Princess is free to convalesce in peace. The Queen will continue with planned engagements as she has been doing all week. The Prince of Wales will return to his own once Catherine is settled at home. Two generations, two hospital stays, two very different approaches it may be. But it is also one family.

[From The Telegraph]

I chuckled at “in this latest hospitalisation, Prince William has been photographed just once, looking as tense as one might expect a worried spouse to appear. Their children have not been seen visiting, nor have her close Middleton family.” The papers want to talk about that sooo badly!!! They want to talk about how photographers were around the London Clinic for two weeks and they only saw William once, and never saw the Middletons or Kate’s kids. They also want to talk about how crazy it is that Kensington Palace lied so blatantly about Kate leaving the London Clinic on Monday. Photographers were everywhere – the only people they saw were Natasha Archer (Kate’s assistant) traveling in a car without Kate, and some kind of random KP dude who had a get-well-soon plant riding shotgun. Photographers dutifully took those photos and the Mail published them, as if the plant was definitive proof of Kate’s hospital stay and discharge. What’s even crazier is that Charles and Camilla are actively drawing attention to the KP clownshow – and C&C have never looked better in comparison.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.