Kate Middleton's lengthy hospital stay as expert explains why she won't return to royal life for months

Kate Middleton has undergone a successful abdominal surgery that will see her not return to her royal duties until Easter.Kensington Palace announced that the Princess of Wales had the operation on Wednesday and will remain in hospital for "ten to 14 days" before returning home.

She will be surrounded by loved ones while she recovers and is "unlikely" to return to her senior royal duties until after the Easter holidays.The nature of the surgery has not been confirmed but it's been confirmed that it's not linked to cancer.The news came shortly before it was announced that King Charles would also be undergoing his own surgery next week, the Mirror reports.Although Kate's condition is not cancerous, the length of the mum-of-three's hospital stay has sparked concern at it indicates the seriousness of her surgery.Speaking to the Express.co.uk about why Kate may be in hospital for so long, Dr Deborah Lee, from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, explained: "For abdominal surgery, most people stay in the hospital for four to seven days.

After laparoscopic surgery [a type of keyhole surgery], this is reduced to two to four days. "It very much depends on what exactly has been done.

If a patient needs to go to ITU, it's likely their hospital stay would be considerably longer. "It can take two months or more for the patient to feel comfortable and be able to move around normally afterwards." In light of Kate's health scare, Prince William has cancelled an upcoming trip to Rome and will not carry out any royal duties during her hospitalisation or return home. Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Instead he will be balancing his time between being by Kate's side