The Mycenaean

This article has been updated due to original updates given by Kensington Palace as of March 22nd. 

On January 17, 2024, the world would perhaps see the last of Kathrine Middleton, Princess of Wales as Kensington Palace, the official residence of her Royal Highness, announced that she had entered preparations for planned abdominal surgery. As the months dragged on, and with that, several suspicious occurrences had been spotted throughout this public relations disaster by the mass public, the question rang through everyone’s mind — where is she? 

First, some background information: 

Her Royal Highness, the most photographed and well-respected member of the royal family, entered the London Clinic in Marylebone, London for a planned treatment. Prior, Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Princess of Wales, announced that she would be taking a break from public engagements until late-March. To further assure the public, a statement was released after she underwent surgery that it had gone smoothly and that she would be spending a brief recovery time at the hospital, before continuing her recovery at Kensington Palace. 

While this official statement didn’t provide much details about the reason for the surgery, it allowed the public to at least be notified of her absence, while providing a possible date for her return into public engagements. Kensington Palace further issued that they would only be releasing periodic updates, in order to protect her privacy. 

However, on February 27, Prince William canceled a planned appearance at Windsor Castle for what was issued as a personal matter and speculation began to spark, even though there were sources claiming that there was no connection between these two events. This is what caused Kate-gate to take off in full force, turning comments of well-wished recovery on X, formerly twitter by concerned individuals, into a fully-fledged social media moment.

A lot of the conspiracies that were issued by the general public were humorous, but some, including those issued by the British and American tabloids, were unnecessarily slanderous. Kensington Palace issued a statement to try and quell the onslaught of commentary, and on February 29, stated that Her Royal Highness was recovering quite well. 

In the next month, published paparazzi photos of the Princess of Wales, coupled with a photoshopped mother’s day photo of her and her children, led to further speculation, the latter being taken down by both Associated Press and other news-sites who were originally sent the photo for publication. By now, the rumor mill had reached its height, and Her Royal Highness’ apology video sent after the incident, was largely ignored.

“I think it’s kinda weird that the photo she posted was edited so much… Overall, I don’t think there’s anything really going on, but it’s fun to speculate about.” says Benjamin Pappas, senior. 

On March 22nd, the world was both shocked and understandably, condemned for the mass harassment of the Princess of Wales and her family, through a no-doubt stressful and tumultuous time. Sitting on a park bench surrounded by lush greenery, Her Royal Highness, in a rather emotional video, admitted that she had been diagnosed with cancer. 

This immediately shut down the hysteria of the public, especially as the Princess of Wales spoke of her eventual return to royal duties, asking for privacy in the process. While there is no doubt, some skepticism as there always is, one can only hope that the process of recovery is speedy for the well-beloved royal.