'On the mend', Kate Middleton would have left Windsor for the first time since her operation. A few days after her release from hospital, the Princess of Wales would have joined Prince William and their three children for a vacation in Sandringham.

She could visit her father-in-law Charles III, who was suffering from cancer. “Based on current medical advice, it is unlikely that Prince William's wife will return to public duties before Easter,” Kensington Palace warned March 31.