©Reuters. Undated photo issued by Catherine of Kensington Palace, Princess of Wales, with her children Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, taken at Windsor, earlier this week, by the Prince of Wales, and released on March 10, 2024. P
LONDON (Reuters) -Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, thanked the public for their support on Sunday in her first public message since undergoing abdominal surgery in January, posting a photo of herself with her three children.
The photograph, taken by her husband, heir to the throne Prince William, showed Kate, 42, smiling and healthy surrounded by Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the past couple of months,” Kate wrote in a message on X. “Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.”
Mother’s Day is celebrated on Sunday in Great Britain. The photograph was taken earlier this week in Windsor, where the family lives, her Kensington Palace office said.
Kate spent two weeks in hospital in January after undergoing surgery for a non-cancerous but unspecified condition. She has not been seen in public since and Kensington Palace has said she is unlikely to return to official duties until after Easter, which falls at the end of this month.
In recent weeks, rumors and speculation have spread on social media about the health of the princess, who has been absent from royal public life since Christmas.
His office released a statement earlier this month, reiterating that it would only provide “significant updates” on his recovery.
Kate’s surgery came on the same day that palace officials said King Charles, 75, would also be admitted to hospital for treatment for an enlarged prostate.
During the King’s hospital stay, his medical team discovered that he had an unspecified form of cancer. The monarch has had to postpone his public engagements while he undergoes treatment, although he was pictured carrying out some of his duties as head of state.