Kate Middleton’s last public appearances before surgery

Kate Middleton had a busy week before Kensington Palace announced that she was undergoing tummy tuck surgery.

The palace announced on Wednesday that the Princess of Wales, 42, underwent “planned abdominal surgery” at the London Clinic the day before and that Kate will remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days after the successful operation. While the palace said the surgery was “planned”, the Princess of Wales has not been seen in public since the start of the new year.

Her last public appearance was on Christmas Day when she joined her husband Prince William and children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for their annual family walk to church in Sandringham.

Kate had a busy December. On December 5, he pulled double duty with a morning hospital visit and an evening reception. Princess Kate started the day at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, where she opened the Children’s Day Surgery Unit. The center cares for children with rare and complex conditions and Kate has served as patron since 2018.

“He relaxes people so much that at one point, when he came to say hello, I thought people were going to start high-fiving! She’s so good at connecting with people and letting people be themselves, which isn’t easy to do when you’re connecting with anyone in the population,” James O’Brien, director of operations and development at Evelina London, tells PEOPLE . .

That evening, the Princess of Wales joined Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace for the diplomatic reception. The annual event welcomes hundreds of members of the Diplomatic Corps to the royal residence and Kate shone in Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara.

On December 8, Kate hosted her third annual Together At Christmas concert at Westminster Abbey, which highlighted her early childhood campaign ‘Shaping Us’ in its first year. As in previous years, Prince William and other members of the royal family attended the caroling service which was pioneered during the coronavirus pandemic. The Prince and Princess of Wales were all smiles as they arrived with Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, in what doubled as Louis’ debut at the event.

Just over two weeks later, the Welsh family stepped out for the royal family’s annual walk to church on Christmas Day at Sandringham in Norfolk. Princess Kate appeared to be in high spirits as she walked to and from St Mary Magdalene, where cameras caught her sweetly handing Zara and Mike Tyndall’s 10-year-old daughter Mia a bouquet of red roses from a well-wisher.

Neither Prince William nor Princess Kate appeared next week, as they usually cut back on their schedules when George, Charlotte and Louis are away at school. There were plans for a clash with her family, including her new nephew Inigo (the son of her brother James Middleton and her wife Alize Thevenet) – and to settle her children back at school.

Kate turned 42 on January 9 and spent the day privately, and William made his first official New Year’s outing last week. The Princess of Wales met Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield at Headlingley Stadium in Leeds, where she presented friends with a CBE for raising money and awareness of motor neurone disease after Burrow was diagnosed with MND in 2019.

Prince of Wales William is now expected to postpone some engagements to be by Kate’s side amid her hospital stay following abdominal surgery. PEOPLE understands the procedure was not cancerous and William changed his schedule to support her.

“The surgery was successful and she is expected to remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery,” a statement from Kensington Palace said on Wednesday. “Based on current medical advice, he is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for the free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normalcy as possible for her children and wishes her personal medical information to remain private,” the statement continued. . “Therefore, Kensington Palace will only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’s progress when there is significant new information to share.”

“The Princess of Wales wishes to apologize to all concerned for having to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to bringing back as many as possible, as soon as possible,” the palace said.