Kensington Palace has strongly denied claims made by a Spanish journalist that Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, was placed in a medically-induced coma following abdominal surgery last month.
According to a recent news reports by PEOPLE, The allegations were made on January 28th by reporter Concha Calleja, who claimed on the popular Spanish news programme Fiesta that the 41-year-old royal had suffered serious complications after her procedure.
“The doctors had to take drastic decisions at that moment because of the complications that arose,” Calleja stated. “The decision was to put her in an induced coma. They had to intubate her. There were serious complications that they didn’t expect because the operation went well, but the postoperative period didn’t go so well.”
Calleja went on to report that Kate’s life was in “great danger” and that staff at the private London Clinic, where the surgery took place, had set up practically an “entire hospital” in her room to aid her recovery.
However, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace has firmly rejected these assertions, calling them “total nonsense” and “fundamentally, totally made-up.”
“No attempt was made by that journalist to fact-check anything that she said with anyone in the household,” the spokesperson told The Times newspaper. “It’s absolutely not the case.”
On January 17th, Kensington Palace announced that Kate had undergone a “planned abdominal surgery” the previous day to treat an undisclosed non-cancerous condition.
The statement said the procedure was “successful” but that the Princess would remain in hospital for some time to recuperate. No further details were provided about Kate’s diagnosis or surgery in line with her wish for medical privacy.
Thirteen days after being admitted, the Palace confirmed Kate had been discharged from the London Clinic and had returned to her Windsor home to continue her recovery.
“The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery,” the January 30th statement read. “She is making good progress. The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided.”
Royal experts say Kate is expected to need a significant period of rest before resuming her official duties.
“I’m sure she’s utterly exhausted, but she’ll recover well,” Ingrid Seward, royal biographer and editor of Majesty Magazine told The Sun newspaper.
The allegations of Kate being placed in an induced coma have been widely reported by numerous Spanish media outlets over the past week, prompting Kensington Palace to take the unusual step of directly refuting them.
Some royal observers have suggested the false claims may have originated from a misunderstanding or miscommunication regarding Kate’s surgery and post-operative care.
“It is possible something was lost in translation regarding the princess’ treatment,” veteran royal correspondent Richard Palmer told the Daily Express. “But clearly no one in Spain bothered checking with the Palace before reporting she was in a coma, which is just outrageous.”
The health scare comes after Kate made her first public appearances of the year, accompanying her husband Prince William on several joint engagements.
The busy start to 2024 for the royal couple came hot on the heels of their highly successful first visit to the United States in early December, their first overseas trip since becoming the Prince and Princess of Wales following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8th last year
The trip saw Kate and William travel to Boston for the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, set up by William to reward innovative solutions to the climate crisis. The three-day tour garnered hugely positive coverage for the royal couple and demonstrated their growing popularity in the US.
There has been an outpouring of warm wishes for Kate from royal fans since news of her hospitalisation broke. The hashtag #GetWellSoonCatherine has been trending on social media
The false reports of Kate being in an induced coma come just weeks after her brother-in-law King Charles was discharged from the same London hospital after being treated for an enlarged prostate.
The Palace announced Charles’ procedure had been a success and the 74-year-old monarch has since resumed full official duties
Kate and William have three children together – Prince George, aged 9, Princess Charlotte, aged 7, and Prince Louis, aged 4. The family recently moved from their long-time London residence, Kensington Palace, to the Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate to be closer to the Queen Consort and other senior royals.
I think you will find that King Charles is Kates father in law, not brother in law.