Prince William has been carrying the weight of the royal family as other important working royal members take much-needed time off for medical reasons. King Charles is limiting his appearances while undergoing cancer treatment, and Kate Middleton has taken a step back to recover from abdominal surgery. While Charles’ siblings and their spouses are still working, William is the most prominent royal of the bunch right now.

However, William raised some eyebrows recently when he pulled out of an event at the last-minute due to a “personal” matter. And one expert called the move a “PR nightmare” for the royal family.

Prince William’s last-minute exit from a royal event has raised eyebrows

Of course, we know that William is balancing taking care of Kate and the kids all while continuing his royal duties. He has limited his appearances, but he has still managed to make everything work. However, William’s last-minute rejection of an event invitation led Kensington Palace to say that Kate’s recovery is going well — but it caused confusion as far as what the personal matter could be. Everything the family does is under a microscope right now given the status of Kate and Charles.

“We wouldn’t have paid any attention to this under normal circumstances,” royal expert Sarah Hewson told TalkTV, via Express. “Of course, there was a huge amount of attention in the latter years of the late Queen’s life when she had to pull out of events because everyone was very mindful about what might this mean.”

Hewson also called the situation a “PR nightmare … for Kensington Palace” because the palace knows that people will immediately associate it with something being wrong with either Kate or Charles. William pulled out of a memorial service for his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece, who died in 2023. And on the same day, social media rumors started spinning with all kinds of conspiracy theories regarding Kate’s absence.

The royal family has kept quiet about all medical topics

The family has extensively avoided talking about Kate and Charles’ conditions. The family waited until after Kate’s surgery was complete before announcing news of it to the public; they kept the details mum and only expressed that she would be out until at least March 31 in order to recover. More than a month later, the royal family still has not said what happened.

In Charles’ case, the family announced he would undergo prostate surgery. After the surgery, they announced that cancer was discovered during the process. But the family gave as few details as possible, only saying the king has cancer and that he would begin treatment that week. The public still does not know the king’s cancer stage, cancer type, or treatment plan.

Of course, it’s not the public’s business to know anyone’s medical history. But the downside is that it does lead to plenty of speculation, and with William dropping out of an event, it’s no surprise people wonder if things aren’t going as well as they seem.