The palace might be downplaying Kate Middleton‘s absence from the Royal Ascot event on June 18, but royal insiders are sounding the alarm.

The Princess of Wales reportedly decided to cancel her appearanceone hour before she was expected at the horse racing festival. According to The Daily Beast, the palace did not provide an “on-the-record explanation for the absence,” but insiders are talking about the emotional reaction that happened behind the scenes. 

“Everyone was wandering around going, ‘What is going on?’ One minute she was going, and the next she wasn’t. This is one of the biggest days of the year in the royal calendar; you don’t just miss Ascot on a whim, so there was a real sense of panic,” the source claimed. “The chaotic nature of the announcement was eerily reminiscent of the dark days of last year. People were bewildered and worried.”

It sounds like there was some PTSD still lingering from last year’s health crisis when both King Charles III and Kate were diagnosed with cancer. A pal of the princess told the media outlet that her decision to stay home isn’t of concern, she was “basically exhausted after Trooping the Color on Saturday and Garter Day on Monday and couldn’t face it.”

Despite the panic, it appears that Kate is keeping in line with prioritizing her health first and taking a page from her Summer 2024 playbook. Last year, The Telegraph shared her team’sstrategy for public appearances by “under-promising and over-delivering” with distractions that her royal fans love, including “a powerful emotional message, a surprise photograph, and a full-scale outing to come that no one would have expected her to manage.”

Still, the Daily Mail reported that the talk of Royal Ascot was not the event itself, but the whereabouts of Kate. The racecourse took the blame as the palace reportedly pushed back on the press release that had the Princess of Wales attending and arriving in the second carriage with PGA golfer Justin Rose and his wife, Kate. 

“Unfortunately, an inaccurate version of the carriage list was issued in error after that notification,” a source told the U.K. outlet. “The correct list was then circulated.”

Kate is expected to attend Wimbledon several times between June 30 and July 13 as the royal representative of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. But the last-minute cancellation this week is a reminder that the Princess of Wales is still on the mend, but not “out of the woods.”

Before you go, click here to see more of Kate Middleton’s best royal fashion moments.