Over the last few months, there have been many theories and ideas about where exactly Kate Middleton is. The Princess was out of the public eye for months, and her return has sparked some some serious controversy over the legitimacy of the Royal Family.
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, went “missing,” as social media and news say. She hadn’t been seen by the public with her kids or family in weeks, leading to many conspiracy theories to arise. These theories ranged from tame to absolutely wild.
On January 17th, it was officially announced (see right) that Kate underwent abdominal surgery and needed time to recover.
In the announcement, it was stated that the Princess was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.” This meant official public appearances and outing were probably not happening, but there weren’t any updated regarding Kate until the internet spiraled into a frenzy. Afterall, Kate was literally out on the front steps of the hospital (in heels) just hours after giving birth.
Among the chaos dubbed ‘Katespiracy’, the palace was forced to make a statement on February 29th, 2024. A spokesperson for Princess Kate said, “We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant.”
Soon after, on March 4th, 2024, Kate was photographed for the first time since Christmas. Then, on Mother’s Day in the UK, the first official photograph of the Princess was shared from her official social media accounts (see below).
Later that same day, multiple photo agencies retracted the image, saying it may have been edited by the royals prior to its release. The Associated Press said it appeared “the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards.” it’s important to note that kill orders like this one are extremely rare from AP.
Following extensive speculation from both social media users and legitimate news sources, Kate admitted to editing a photograph Kensington Palace released of her and her children for Mother’s Day on Sunday. Her admission only poured more fuel onto the rumor mill fire.
There were numerous theories circulating at this point, suggesting that Kate was either kidnapped or had passed away. However, one of the most widely believed notions among the public was that her husband, William, the Prince of Wales, was cheating on her with a mistress
Rose Hanbury is one of the women being accused of having an affair with Prince William. Officially known as Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, she is a 40 years old former model. Hanbury has ancestral ties to the royal family, also being a close friend to Kate and William.
While the royal family hasn’t made any sort of statement in regards to this situation, Hanbury’s lawyers have claimed that “the rumours are completely false.”
Though there is a denial, the question still remains as to why is Kate Middleton nowhere to be seen?
On March 22, 2024, @KensingtionRoyal, The Prince and Princess of Wales, released a video on X (formerly Twitter) In this video statement, Kate shared that after undergoing her surgery, tests showed “cancer had been present,” and dealing with this is why no one has seen her. The Princess also expressed that she is safe, along with her husband and kids.
A few hours after this video was released, many people were saying that this video was created by AI. The reason why people speculated this was because the engagement ring would glitch every once and awhile, as well as other small errors including discrepancies in her hair and teeth. Many people also said Kate looked very different and she looked fake.
On April 1st, a newsletter website ‘She Knows’ published an article “Kate Middleton’s Cancer Announcement Video Gets Flagged by Getty Images & We Are Curious”. In Kate’s video there is a clear editors note saying “this handout clip was provided by a third-party organization and does not adhere to Getty images’ editorial policy.” There is no other background or knowledge on why this was added to the video but it adds to why the video would be fake and AI generated.
The debate is ongoing online, taking over just about every social media platform there is. As time goes on, the truth of what is actually happening will undoubtedly come out. Does she have cancer? Was is really Kate editing that photo? What does Rose Hanbury have to do with all this?