Inside the London clinic where the Princess of Wales is being treated
Kate is expected to remain in hospital for up to two weeks following her surgery
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Your support makes all the difference.The Princess of Wales is being treated in hospital after undergoing a successful abdominal surgery.
Kate, 42, was admitted to The London Clinic on Tuesday for the planned procedure, Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday.
The future Queen is expected to remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery.
The announcement came just an hour before the palace revealed the King will also attend hospital next week to be treated for a benign enlarged prostate.
Follow our live blog for all the latest royal updates.
Charles, who is 75, will have the corrective procedure at an unnamed hospital next week. All public engagements have been postponed for a short period.
Here’s everything we know about the hospital where the Princess of Wales will receive treatment:
Everything we know about The London Clinic
The London Clinic was officially opened by the then-Duke and Duchess of York in 1932, the future King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth.
It was the brainchild of a group of Harley Street doctors, who set out to plan a new nursing home using the highest medical standards of the day, and its website says it was “founded on the principles of providing excellence in one place”.
Around 155 different conditions are treated at the hospital, which also operates as a charity, reinvesting in research, education and innovation.
Since the 1980s, a number of facilities at the site have been officially launched by members of the royal family.
King Charles, as the then-Prince of Wales, opened the physiotherapy department in 1989, while Princess Margaret launched the MRI unit in 1991 and the late Queen unveiled a new cancer unit in 2010.
Past patients include the late Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Princess Margaret and former US president John F Kennedy. Former prime minister and current foreign secretary, David Cameron, was born at the central London hospital, and actress Elizabeth Taylor was also treated at the clinic after falling on a film set in the 1960s.
The latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), carried out in June 2021, rated The London Clinic as “good” overall.
According to the health watchdog, the hospital has about 23,000 inpatients a year, with a further 110,000 outpatients.
It is registered to provide surgery as well as diagnostics and screening, treatment of disease, disorder or injury, management of supply of blood and blood-derived products.
The building at 20 Devonshire Place has seven main operating theatres and three additional theatres, as well as six speciality wards for surgeries in urology, gynaecology, thoracic surgery, orthopaedics and spinal procedures.
The Princess of Wales is expected to spend between 10 and 14 days in the hospital and two to three months recovering.
She is not expected to return to public duties until after Easter, at the end of March.
A spokesperson said: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate.
“She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.
“Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share.
“The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements.
“She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.”
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