Up until the royal announcement on March 22, stating that Kate Middleton had cancer, the Princess of Wales had been missing. Or at least missing from the public eye, leaving the internet speculating about what might have caused this sudden disappearance. These speculations began slowly after Middleton was admitted to the London clinic on Jan. 16. The following day, the palace announced that Middleton had undergone a planned abdominal surgery and that it had been “successful.” However, Middleton was not discharged until Jan. 29.
Numerous conspiracies began circulating about Middleton’s whereabouts, including speculations that the King was abdicating and a surprisingly popular theory that Middleton is the anonymous street artist Banksy, since Banksy had not released work since Middleton’s “disappearance.” Interestingly, many of these theories were popularized by celebrities.
In response to Middleton’s absence, late night host, Steven Colbert, joked that Prince William, Middleton’s husband, had an affair. This was a widespread theory after the prince attended a fundraiser gala on Feb. 7 and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards on Feb. 18 without Middleton. On Feb. 27, the prince missed an annual royal event for “personal reasons,” according to the palace, leaving more questions.
Rumors reached an all-time high after Middleton shared a Mother’s Day photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, that was allegedly photoshopped. The photo was an image of Middleton sitting with her three children. Internet users were quick to point out the hands and hair of the children looked off. According to the Associated Press “the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards.” The next day, Middleton released a statement saying, “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” implying that it was a simple mistake. However, this did not stop further speculations.
Soon, people began theorizing that Middleton was dead, replaced, or in a coma. Kim Kardashian posted a photo on March 12 captioned, “On my way to go find Kate.” After a video of Middleton walking through a farmers market went viral on March 18, Andy Cohen wrote on X, “That ain’t Kate….” And on March 22, Cohen released a podcast episode where he discussed a theory that Prince William was having an affair with Rose Hanbury. The episode aired a few hours before Middleton’s announcement.
In a video released by BBC, Middleton shared that her absence was due to her recent cancer diagnosis. Although the type of cancer was not disclosed, it was discovered during her abdominal surgery, and she is undergoing chemotherapy. She concludes by saying, “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
Most responses have been positive. Overall Middleton has received an enormous amount of support online from people wishing her health and healing during this very difficult time. But hopefully Middleton and her family are also allowed privacy to process and recover in their own time.
Kate Middleton during her cancer diagnosis announcement
