Out until Easter.

>> Couple axe tours >> Wills to be by her while Kate recovers side & help with kids

- RUSSELL MYERS and MATTHEW YOUNG

THE Prince and Princess of Wales have axed all royal duties as she recovers from an abdominal operation. 

Kate will be in hospital for up to 14 days and need to rest until after Easter in late March.

And the Prince will be by her side during that recuperation, looking after her and their children George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five, at their Windsor home.

Kate was taken to The London Clinic in Marylebone on Tuesday for the planned procedure and will remain there for up to two weeks.

Speculation was last night growing about the nature of her operation but Kensington Palace insisted she was not rushed to the private hospital and her condition was "non-cancerous".

As well as axing a trip next month to thank troops working abroad, William and Kate will also postpone their first official visit to Italy in spring.

A royal source said: "Everything has been rightly dropped in such circumstances.

William and the children will no doubt visit the hospital when the time is right.

"William and Kate have always put their family first and now the Prince of Wales' central role will be to be there for his wife and his children until the Princess has made a full recovery."

Majesty magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward told how the couple will have plenty of help as Kate recovers from her operation.

She said: "It is difficult when it is mum who is hospitalised.