A day after the Princess of Wales delivered a candid video message announcing her cancer diagnosis, she and husband William and their children flew to the royals’ Sandringham Estate for Easter.

As the family was seen leaving Adelaide Cottage in Windsor by helicopter, it marked the beginning of a months-long break for Kate, 42, and William, 41, the future king of England, as they spend much-needed family time with George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five.

After weeks of frenzied speculation on social media about her health and wellbeing, the family will be laying low at their 10-bedroom Georgian country house Anmer Hall – a gift from the late queen – as Kate continues preventative chemotherapy.

In her message to the world, she emphasised the wellbeing of their “young family” was paramount.

“It has taken me time to recover from major [abdominal] surgery [in January] in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK,” she said.

The BBC said this will be “the last we will hear from the prince and princess for a while” after Kensington Palace released a follow-up statement from the couple saying they were “extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support”.

They now want privacy.

“It is a message that is both a thank you and a polite warning, with the couple saying the public side of this diagnosis is over and they want to be left alone.”

Under normal circumstances, Kate and William and the children would be expected to attend Easter services with the rest of the royal family.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the King and Queen will attend an Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor on March 31, typically an occasion for a gathering of senior royals.

It will be the King’s first public appearance at a traditional royal event since his cancer diagnosis was revealed in February.

The King reportedly met Kate for a private lunch the day before her announcement on March 22, and has expressed enormous pride in his “beloved” daughter-in-law for her “courage” in speaking about her treatment.

One royal source told Vanity Fair the two are “closer than ever”.

On Maundy Thursday [the day before Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus washing the feet of the Apostles at the Last Supper], the King is expected to broadcast an Easter message of hope at Worcester Cathedral.

George, Louis, Charlotte, with Kate, making fairy cakes in Cardiff for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Photo: Royal Insider News Youtube

For Kate and Wills, this year will be a more intimate affair – ditching formal attire for PJs, country walks, dyeing eggs, making hot cross buns, and hanging out in the kitchen.

That’s according to one long-time royal watcher, who told The New Daily the family “will spend their time sticking as close to normal routines as possible” and enjoy the vast estate with visits from family.

“If Kate is feeling up to it, she might have her sister Pippa and her family over so that the ‘see the family at Easter’ box is ticked, albeit this year it’s her side of things, not the royals who usually pull rank,” she said.

” … almost the first words Louis said were ‘Mary Berry’ after seeing the [English] cooking doyenne’s face on cookbooks in Kate’s collection so often when he was tiny, so they might have a crack at dyeing eggs or making hot cross buns, then maybe an egg hunt.”

In England, the Easter school holiday break runs for almost three weeks [16 days] and Kate is expected to make her first public appearance after April 17.

A 2013 shot of Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate. Photo: Getty

As for William?

The royal watcher says the rest of the holidays will be spent “with Kate resting and William being very hands on, walking on nearby Norfolk beaches with the kids, or taking them to the local tennis club which they all love”.

“It will be just like any other family – favourite card games, video games, early dinners of spag bol and veggies from the garden,” she adds.

“He’s got his hands full with a sick wife and sick father and absent brother [Prince Harry], but he’s a capable and loving dad so will step up to the plate.

“[He] will enjoy just being in his dad jeans for a while, even as he tries to shove aside natural worries about the awful uncertainty of two of his beloveds having cancer.”