The Internet has been entirely focused on solving one strange mystery lately: Where is Kate Middleton? In late February, royal followers realized that the Princess of Wales had gone completely invisible for a full two months. This led to a deluge of speculation about what caused Middleton to totally disappear from the public eye. Now, Middleton has set the record straight in a video message.
The whole mystery began back in mid-January, when Kensington Palace announced that Middleton had a “planned abdominal surgery” on Jan. 16. The palace did not disclose the nature of the surgery but informed the public that Middleton would recover in the hospital for up to two weeks, before returning home to continue her recovery.
Well, those two weeks came and went… as did six more weeks without an appearance or any update on Middleton. At the end of February, a month and a half after Middleton’s surgery, conspiracy theories started taking over social media. The speculation reached a fever pitch online, prompting Kensington Palace to issue a statement via Harper’s Bazaar on Feb. 29 revealing when Middleton would return to the public sphere: “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.”
Easter falls on March 31 this year. Middleton’s own rep echoed the palace’s remarks, saying they’d only provide an update if there was a significant matter to report. “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates,” Middleton’s rep told The New York Post. “That guidance stands.”
The rep added that Middleton is currently “doing well.”
Middleton’s timeline seemed to get more concrete update in early March. After extremely grainy paparazzi pics of Middleton in a car surfaced online, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Princess of Wales would attend Trooping the Color, a parade scheduled for June 15 this year. However, shortly after the confirmation, the guest list was updated with Middleton’s name removed.
Even stranger, Kensington Palace shared a photo of Middleton and her kids on March 10, but the pic only caused more confusion. The photo was widely accused of being digitally altered, and the next day, Middleton admitted it was edited in a statement from her X (formerly known as Twitter) account: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Middleton wrote. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”
On March 18, TMZ shared what may be the first confirmed footage of Middleton: a video of her carrying groceries alongside Prince William. However, the footage still wasn’t totally clear, and theorists began to claim the woman in the video wasn’t actually Middleton.
At long last, the fervor died down when Kensington Palace shared a video message from Middleton on March 22. Middleton shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer following her abdominal surgery in January, and was now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy.
“It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful,” Middleton said.
Middleton’s last public appearance was on Dec. 25, 2023, when she attended the Royal Family’s Christmas Day service. Given her medical update, it’s unlikely she will return to the public eye soon, as she focuses on treating her cancer.
