IT'S WORSE THAN ANYONE KNOWS

Prince William abruptly skips a family event over "personal matters," raising alarm about his ailing wife, Princess Kate

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he was a last-minute noshow. "Unfortunately, the Prince of Wales is no longer able to attend the King Constantine Memorial Service this morning due to a personal matter," the palace said in a statement on Feb. 27, about the event at Windsor Castle celebrating the life of William's godfather, King Constantine of Greece. The abrupt announcement - the future king, 41, was scheduled to do a reading from the Bible at the service sparked fears about his wife, Princess Kate, who is recovering from a mid-January abdominal surgery, although a palace rep insisted she "continues to be doing well." But sources tell In Touch the palace, in a "shocking cover-up," is hiding how dire things really are, and Kate's road to recovery will be much longer than initially expected. "The truth is she's very sick. It's worse than anyone knows," says a source. William, who had taken off time to help Kate for the first three weeks of her recovery but returned to his official duties on Feb. 7, "is really worried. He's willing to drop everything to be by her side."