Prince William condemned antisemitism during a visit to a London synagogue on Thursday,  sporting a kippah as he appeared in public after he unexpectedly pulled out of a royal event earlier in the week.

William, heir to the throne, heard about how Jewish students across Britain have been affected by the rise of hatred against the Jewish community during his visit to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue. He also spent time with a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, Renee Salt.

The royal said he and his wife, Catherine, the princess of Wales, are extremely concerned about the rise in antisemitism. “I’m here today to reassure you all that people do care, people do listen and we can’t let that keep going,” he said.

William spoke out last week against the fighting in Gaza and called for conflict there to end “as soon as possible.” While his statement stopped short of calling for an immediate cease-fire, he spoke of the “terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack,” in remarks that raised many eyebrows in Britain. The British royal family today typically keeps a low profile when it comes to expressing political views in public.

Reports of antisemitic abuse in Britain have soared since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

William’s absence Tuesday from a memorial service for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece, drew significant press attention because it came at a time when William’s father, King Charles III, and his wife are both suffering from health problems.

Charles, who is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, has canceled all his public engagements.

Palace officials said only that William pulled out of the service at Windsor because of a “personal matter.” They declined to elaborate but said his wife, who is by official accounts recovering from abdominal surgery she underwent in January, is “doing well.”

Yet William’s mention of Kate’s name made the much-beloved mother of three’s continuing absence from the public eye all the more glaring. While King Charles has been almost jarringly candid about his ongoing health travails, the princess of Wales has by contrast been uncharacteristically quiet. Adding to the intrigue is that Buckingham Palace has indicated that Kate will not be stepping out in public until Easter.

That has provided plenty of grist for the London rumor mill, with speculation running rife about everything from domestic issues to conspiracy theories that the Spectator described as too “distasteful and prurient to list.”

Prince William has demonstrated time and again that he can handle his royal responsibilities even in trying circumstances, but from the princess’s nonattendance at the BAFTA awards to her absence by William’s side at a London synagogue today, her sparkle is missed.

Count on Fleet Street to grow more restless by the day.