The Prince and Princess of Wales are spending the holiday privately with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
Kate Middleton, Prince William and their children did not join King Charles and other members of the royal family for Easter church service on Sunday, following the announcement by the Princess of Wales last week that she is undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer.
King Charles, 75, Queen Camilla, 76, led a reduced gathering of the royal family for the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel. The scaled-back attendance was a result of King Charles’ ongoing cancer treatment, following his diagnosis earlier this year.
It’s understood that the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — are spending the weekend privately at home a little more than a week after Kate, 42, shared the news about her health.
On March 22, the Princess of Wales released a personal video message, sharing that she is undergoing chemotherapy after receiving a cancer diagnosis following her abdominal surgery in January.
Princess Kate described the diagnosis as a “huge shock” and said she and Prince William took time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis.
“We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment, ” the Princess of Wales said towards the end of her video message, in which she urged others navigating cancer to remember they are “not alone.”
Princess Kate may have also strategically waited to make the public announcement about her health until her children were out of the classroom for Easter. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are currently on a half-term break from the Lambrook School and aren’t due back in the classroom until the middle of April. The school holiday creates space for the family to have private time together and for Kate to focus on her full recovery.
“She has the inner strength, the support of her husband and her extraordinary family, so she can focus on what’s important, which is her getting back to strength,” Ailsa Anderson, a former spokeswoman for Queen Elizabeth, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story.
Prince William and Princess Kate have only missed a few other royal Easter church outings since they wed in 2011. The royal couple marked the holiday in Australia during a royal tour there in 2014 and didn’t join Queen Elizabeth for the trip to church the following year, one month before Princess Charlotte was born.
While the family spends Easter quietly and privately this year, King Charles led the royal family’s traditional trip to church at St. George’s Chapel. Buckingham Palace confirmed last week that the King, 75, and Queen, 76, would step out for the Easter service amid the monarch’s cancer treatment.
The update came after it emerged that King Charles hoped to attend the holiday mass. The outing was expected to be pared down from past years to heed doctors’ advice that the King should limit the number of people he comes in contact with during his treatment. Buckingham Palace announced on Feb. 5 that the King was diagnosed with cancer following surgery for a benign enlarged prostate and would postpone public-facing duties while receiving treatment.
The type of cancer has not been disclosed, but a spokesman confirmed it is not prostate cancer.
King Charles and Princess Kate’s bond may grow stronger as they both navigate cancer during the first time in the monarchy’s history that two senior royals are facing the diagnosis simultaneously.
“He has always had a very good bond with her. I don’t think it is presumptuous to say that she is like the daughter he never had,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “He shares with William an impulse to protect her. They are in this together, Kate and the King.”
