In recent weeks the internet has been awash with theories about why Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas. Although it was announced that she had planned abdominal surgery in January the lack of information about her condition and a botched Mother’s Day photo have given rise to rampant speculation about what is really happening. But should we automatically assume that something nefarious is going on, or is there a much simpler explanation?

In fact, let’s just imagine for a minute that she is not the wife of the future King of England but instead a 42-year-old married woman with three children, some health concerns, critical in-laws, and a host of eccentric relatives who don’t mind dragging her into their drama? Would we be surprised if she felt the need to take some time away from her high profile, unrelenting public relations job?

If we were to further speculate that her duty-driven husband is dealing with changes in his job description following his grandmother’s death, his father’s recent cancer diagnosis, and his brother’s very public struggles to establish his own identity, it probably wouldn’t surprise us to hear that he is experiencing a crisis of his own. If that means he has less time or energy to devote to supporting her, it could exacerbate her stress level and even cause her to question their relationship and his commitment to their family.

It's also a good bet that despite being a princess, Kate, an apparently devoted mother, still takes on the lion’s share of what psychologists call the “mental work” of maintaining a family. This includes anticipating........

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