In mid-January, the Prince and Princess of Wales — Prince William and Kate Middleton’s official account on X (formerly Twitter) — shared a statement About how Kate recently underwent “planned abdominal surgery,” which required her to recover out of the public eye for several months.
Despite a Jan. 29 statement and follow-up about Kate go home from hospitalThousands of social media users are playing amateur doctors and detectives, spreading conspiracy theories about what’s really going on behind the walls of an Adelaide cottage. Adelaide Cottage is the couple’s residence on their Windsor Castle estate, where the princess is reportedly still recovering.
“Kate Middleton is one of our most beloved royals and one of the most watched and loved women in the world,” British journalist Sharon Carpenter told Yahoo News. “It’s no wonder people are curious and even worried about where she is and how her recovery is going.”
The turning point for online conspiracy theories appears to have come after Prince William pulled out of a memorial service for his godfather on February 27, citing “personal reason“. Royal biographer Phil Dampier told the Daily Mail that the prince’s absence was “very worrying”.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace announced on February 5 that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, prompting some internet users to question why one diagnosis was specified and not another.
Ellie HallAn investigative reporter who has covered the royal family for outlets such as BuzzFeed News told Yahoo News that her theory is that the speculation surrounding Kate wouldn’t be as intense if there wasn’t such a huge difference in the level of information shared with her. public.
“Buckingham Palace has not announced what type of cancer the King has, just like Kensington Palace has not revealed what Kate’s health problem is (supposedly at her request),” Hall explained. “However, there is a huge gap between what the public hears and the images that are shown to the public. The information vacuum leaves a lot of room for various conspiracy theories to grow and spread.”
Hall pointed to paparazzi photos of Queen Camilla visiting King Charles in hospital before he announced his cancer diagnosis, as well as more photos of them leaving together after treatment.last week’s palace shared a video King Charles looks at the “get well soon” card.
✉️ The King has had the opportunity to read thousands of get well cards and letters sent to Buckingham Palace since his diagnosis.
🖋️Thanks to everyone who wrote in. pic.twitter.com/Ok7YGMb3h7
— Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 23, 2024
“Here’s the thing: People have been constructing narratives about the world’s royal families since time immemorial,” Hall said. “But the royal press team are usually better than this, ensuring they provide enough information to make conspiracy theories laughably false – and in the current case there is room for speculation.”
In contrast, the last time Kate and her children were seen and photographed in public was during the royal family’s annual Christmas walk.Prince William give a speech at the London Air Ambulance Charity on February 7, and photographed at the BAFTA Awards on February 18 – even with actress Ayo Edebiri ) group photo turned into a viral meme.
Fans seem worried about Kate, who is an X user point out Take a group photo outside the hospital immediately after delivery, Haven’t been photographed yet – Although Buckingham Palace said in its first statement in January that Kate would not attend public events after Easter, March 31.
“We still don’t know why she had abdominal surgery,” Carpenter noted. “Of course, Kate has every right to privacy as she recovers, but withholding information from the public always leads to speculation – and the longer the silence goes on, the more fans start playing detective on social media.”
Hall said the question people should be asking shouldn’t be whether it was a good idea for the royal family to share photos of Kate in recovery, especially when she asked for privacy.
“The question is, ‘Why is Buckingham Palace sharing new footage/video/photos of the King?’ “Why can’t Kensington Palace share similar media featuring the Princess of Wales? “Only William and Kate’s press team can answer that question,” Hall said. “