Kate Middleton and Prince William's Anniversary Plans Revealed
Insiders expect the couple to keep their anniversary very low-key this year - if they acknowledge the occasion in public at all.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have not yet announced their anniversary plans amid Kate Middleton's cancer treatment. The couple married on April 29, 2011 making Monday their 13th wedding anniversary. Several prominent pundits told GB News they expect Prince William and Middleton to keep to themselves as they mark the occasion this year.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told reporters that Prince William and Middleton "will undoubtedly be celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary privately. This year will be very different from previous years as Catherine is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after recovering from abdominal surgery." He further speculated that the couple is very much on the same page when it comes to their public relations and priorities.
"This is clearly a marriage of like minds as the years have shown," he said. "They are focused on parenthood with its ups and downs and ensuring their children grow up in as normal a way as possible." Fitzwilliams looked back at previous anniversaries for examples, anticipating that the couple would put their children first whether they celebrate privately or not.
"On their 10th wedding anniversary, they shared a delightful family video, last year it was a happy photograph of them riding bicycles together," he recalled. Still, he assumed that they would not mark their anniversary publicly this year so as not to send mixed messages. He noted: "The princess has appealed for time, space and privacy at this difficult time and there is unlikely to be a public commemoration of any kind."
Representatives for the British royal family announced in January that Middleton was recovering from a "planned abdominal surgery," and that her public engagements would be canceled or postponed through at least Easter. As that date approached and speculation ran wild, Middleton publicly announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She is staying out of the public eye while undergoing treatment.
Middleton and Prince William have never shied away from their notoriety as public figures, but they have drawn lines where possible to protect their privacy and that of their children. According to a report by The New York Times, that attitude was likely influenced by the death of Princess Diana, which involved paparazzi. When they became parents, their focus shifted to their children, hoping they could grow up without the constant pressure of "surveillance."
Middleton has managed to successfully avoid photographers and reporters for the most part during her treatment so far. There's no reason to suspect that will change any time soon.