Prince William has returned to work, amid the ongoing controversy and speculation surrounding his wife Kate Middleton.
On Thursday, the Prince of Wales opened a new youth zone called WEST in Hammersmith, west London.
The 42-year-old was all smiles as he met with students from the local Ark White City primary school and WEST’s Young People’s Development Group, who were involved in planning the facilities in the new facility.
The facility is run by OnSide, an organisation that he and Princess Kate have supported in the past.
Later on Thursday, the Prince of Wales will be the guest of honour at an awards ceremony in London hosted by The Diana Award, the charity set up in memory of his late mother Princess Diana.
William will hand out awards to 20 Legacy Award winners, and will also give a speech at the event.
It’s been business as usual for the Prince this week, despite the ongoing drama surrounding his family.
His wife Kate Middleton has remained out of the spotlight since January, as she’s currently recovering from abdominal surgery.
But on March 10th, the 42-year-old broke her silence on social media to share a photo of herself and their kids Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, to celebrate Mother’s Day in the UK.
However, things took a dramatic turn when several of the world’s biggest international photo agencies said the photograph issued of Kate and her three children had been “manipulated”.
The Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images all separately issued a “kill notice” to media organisations around the globe, confirming they had each deleted the image from their individual libraries.
Kate later issued an apology in a statement shared on social media.
She wrote: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.
“I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”
A palace source also added: “The Princess has shared a statement on social media. This was an amateur, family photograph taken by the Prince of Wales.”
“Their royal highnesses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day. The Princess made minor adjustments as she shared in her statement on social media.”
“The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.”
This was the first official picture of Kate that has been released since her abdominal surgery on January 16.
A spokesperson for Kensington Palace previously said that the Princess is “making good progress”.
They continued: “The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided.
“The Wales family continues to be grateful for the well wishes they have received from around the world.”
In a previous statement, 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.”
“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.”
Kats is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter, and the Prince of Wales has temporarily stepped back from his royal role to care for her and their three children.
