Kate Middleton’s absence 'serious distraction' from 'royal mission'

Staying coy about Kate Middleton’s health condition nearly a month after she underwent abdominal surgery is not fending as well for the royal family as they would have liked.

Writing for News.com.au, royal expert Daniela Elser dubbed the public scrutiny surrounding the Princess of Wales mysterious absence for the last two months “KateGate,” indicating its significance in shaping the image of monarchy.

She wrote: "This Great Kate Panic has morphed from entertaining to the unhinged and it would be easy to dismiss it as just sound and fury if not for the much more serious and real implications.

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"Right now, the standing of the royal family is dicey. Three of the four highest ranking members of the working cadre have gone AWOL (Charles, William and Kate) leaving us in the previously ludicrous-to-even-imagine position that Queen Camilla is holding down the fort and is now THE public face of the monarchy,” the royal commentator explained.

"KateGate has, today, become a massive, problematic sideshow and a serious distraction which, should courtiers look up long enough from their Telegraphs and leather bound agendas, be a cause for real concern.

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"It’s A) a big fat disruption from the wider royal mission and B) is creating doubt around an institution that has been trying to cast off the image of being a shadowy, imperious bastion of pathological caginess” Elser added.