I don't know why you think every quest is on hold because you're stuck on the Sanctum quest. That's simply not true.
By guide, I assume you mean the Quest Log, as opposed to the official walkthrough? Of course if you are following the Quest Log, you will end up starting lots of quests. It's not a big deal to have a lot of open quests, some are recurring anyway, others will need to wait before they can be completed.
I don't know what about my suggestions were smug and not honest?
Looks like a1fox3 already gave you a solid answer to this one.
Spying on Giron is done three times. After spying on him the first time, did you then observe Dave and Frisha's date? If you already did this, and spied the second time, did you then observe Dave and Frisha again? For the third time, you should see the king's visit in Arenfield before being able to progress for the third spying event. Which walkthrough (not Quest Log) step are you stuck on?