AMANDA PLATELL: Don’t lecture us all about Gaza, William… just tell us how Kate is

The shock waves hitting the House of Windsor this year have been relentless, not least among them the news that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer.

So it was heartening to see him meeting Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace this week, getting on with his job. Discussions between them turned to the importance of raising awareness for cancer charities and the Prime Minister commented on how well the King looked.

Rishi wasn’t the only one who thought so. The King’s appearance was a reassuring message of hope. He hadn’t lost his hair, as some of us feared, as a result of possible chemotherapy. Nor had he lost too much weight. He seemed in good heart

But to me there was also something rather poignant about seeing him. It made me think about the Princess of Wales and how we haven’t seen her for so long. The most recent pictures I can find of Kate were taken on Christmas Day last year on the royal walk to church in Sandringham.

It was January 17 when it was announced she had been admitted to hospital for unspecified surgery. She then spent two weeks in a private clinic before her planned three-month recuperative break from royal duties.

Can we even remember a time since she married William in 2011 when she was not there in our lives, smiling and laughing at official events or with her husband and her children?

Her absence feels almost like a bereavement so used to her have we become. Wherever I go — the hairdresser, the butcher, shops, even in the street — I am asked about Kate by people who think I might have some information about the Princess because I am a journalist (I don’t).

Everyone’s desperate to find out what’s happening. How she is. When we’ll see her. But there is radio silence. If Charles can be open about his condition, why can’t we hear about how Kate is getting on?

William can pontificate foolishly about Gaza all he likes, but those of us who support and admire him and the Royal Family are not even vaguely interested. We just want to know about Kate.

So please, William, stop lecturing us about the Middle East. And tell us that the wonderful woman you married — and who long ago captured our hearts — is doing OK.