Kensington Palace revealed yesterday that the Princess of Wales had been deemed fit enough to leave the London Clinic after a 13-night stay, much to the relief of royal fans the world over.

Yet while Kate taking the next step in her recovery is obviously a good thing, the road ahead will be a long one. The princess will not be resuming any of her royal engagements or duties until at least after Easter, while new reports suggest she’s saddened by the fact she will be forced to sit out a rather special celebration in the coming days.

It should come as no real shock that Kate Middleton’s hospitalization proved a meteoric talking point for media outlets around the world.

Part of what has made the public so curious as to the circumstances is the lack of information from the Royal Family. Kensington Palace issued an announcement on January 17 that she had gone in for abdominal surgery, but a lot of the whys remain unclear even now, two weeks after the fact.

Having spent 13 nights at the London Clinic following her surgery, Kate returned to her her family home in Windsor yesterday. Kensington Palace said that she is “making good progress” in their statement.
“The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress,” the statement read.

“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.“

Reports suggest that Prince William – who spent a lot of time by his wife’s bedside in hospital following her surgery – may return to his official duties now that Kate is home.

For the Princess of Wales, however, it will likely be some time before she can think about settling in to her usual routine again. Sadly, that means that she won’t be on hand to attend any planned family gathering to ring in her mother’s birthday this week.
According to Hello!, Kate has an incredibly close relationship with her mom, Carole Middleton, and so will no doubt be frustrated at missing any celebrations as she turns 69 tomorrow (Wednesday, January 31).

It’s said that William and Kate have joined the latter’s parents in the Caribbean to celebrate Carole’s birthday in the past. This year, naturally, any plans for such extravagance will have to be put on hold for Kate’s part.

Yet saddened as Kate may be to miss out, positive news relating to her recovery is the main thing to focus on. Though we, the public, may never be privy to what exactly it was that forced her to be hospitalized for two weeks, rumors insist that the situation may have been graver than any of us were ready to believe.

Unconfirmed reports in Spanish newspaper Marca earlier this week purported that Kate’s life may have been in jeopardy, so the fact that she has now returned home is a promising sign indeed.

Here’s to wishing Kate Middleton all the best with her recovery.