While the conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton may seem wild, history suggests the public has good reason to be skeptical of the Royals' narrative.Mother Jones; Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace/MEGA
Today, a conspiracy theory that was hitherto a growing obsession of Twitter sleuths and the Royal-curious blew up into the Global Water Cooler Moment of the week (including here at Mother Jones): Where in the world is Kate Middleton? And if you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about because you spent the weekend living under a rock: buckle up!
It all began when Kensington Palace announced in January that Catherine, the Princess of Wales, had undergone “planned abdominal surgery,” would be in the hospital for up to two weeks, and was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.” As the weeks ticked by and she wasn’t spotted in public, various theories on her whereabouts—and her well-being—began to percolate: Was she getting treatment for an eating disorder? Had she been a victim of domestic abuse? Were she and William on the brink of divorce? Is she even alive? Or is she simply recovering from a Brazilian butt lift? (Yes, really.)
The rumor mill began spinning faster due to a series of possibly utterly unrelated events:
- In late February, when Prince William pulled out of attending a memorial service for his late godfather, citing a “personal matter.”
- The same day, the sudden death of another Royal, 45-year-old Thomas Kingston, was announced; the cause of death was reported as a “catastrophic head injury” and a gun was found at the scene.
- A couple of days later, Prince William made a public appearance in which some social media users speculated it looked like he had bruises near his neck.
- The next week, after the British Army announced Kate would be present to celebrate the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in June, as she historically has been, Kensington Palace quickly responded saying they weren’t consulted and there were no guarantees she would be making that appearance.
- And after a grainy paparazzi shot snapped earlier this month appeared to show Kate in a car with her mother, marking her first public sighting since December, some commenters alleged it looked nothing like her—and that it may not actually even be her.
Are you following? There’s more. And I promise I’m driving to a bigger point.
The drama reached a climax yesterday, when, in an apparent bid to quell speculation on her status, Kensington Palace released what they claimed was a photo of Kate and her three children taken by William, and accompanied by what they alleged was a caption written by her: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” it said. “Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.” (Don’t worry—Sunday was Mother’s Day in the U.K. I had the same panic.) Social media sleuths quickly pointed out various details in the image that appeared to suggest it had been manipulated—and, in a major blow to the palace, several international photo agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, retracted the photo.
I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theorist but if @AP @AFP @Reuters & other picture agencies are concerned enough to remove it and ask clients to delete it, there are serious questions for Kensington Palace – which was the source of the photo.
These appears to be the issues 👇 https://t.co/ifcSB9mUzu pic.twitter.com/bH5gN9fJtJ— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024
This morning, things got even more absurd: Kate announced that, whoops, it was all her fault, and she got carried away playing with Photoshop. Then, a photo of Kate in a car, her face shrouded in shadow as she sat next to William as they left Windsor Castle, just happened to appear in the Daily Mail, which reported that she was headed to a “private appointment” while William was headed to a service at Westminster Abbey.
Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024
None of this has stopped the conspiracy theorists from speculating on Kate’s well-being—and, frankly, it’s hard to stop, if our newsroom chatter is anything to go by. The Royals have a long history of behavior towards women, and other dissenters within their ranks, that has been described as abusive. Let’s quickly assess the record:
- In Harry and Meghan’s 2021 Oprah interview, Meghan said royal life had made her suicidal;
- Harry alleged in his memoir that William got physically violent with him after they sparred over Meghan’s role in the family;
- Princess Diana battled with bulimia, allegedly sparked in part by King Charles III’s comments on her weight and his affair with the now-Queen Camilla.
The difference now seems that, thanks to the women like Meghan and Diana who have spoken out about their struggles battling the machinery of the monarchy from the inside, the public seems more likely to take Royal statements of assurance with a massive lump of salt—and with genuine concern for those, like Kate, who may be suffering in silence on the inside.
I went to graduate school in the U.K., but I’ve never been anything more than your garden-variety royal watcher; that is, I saw the Harry and Meghan six-part Netflix docu-series (and, to be honest, thought it was about four episodes too long), and I’ll occasionally click on a headline about alleged drama within the royal family. But the latest round of headlines, and the public interest in them, feel like more than just gossip—they feel like a real shift in the power the Palace wields over public perception, and more evidence that the masses just don’t want to live under an oligarchy. Data released last year by the UK-based National Centre for Social Research shows that public support for the monarchy has fallen to a record low, with only 29 percent of the British public characterizing it as “very important.” Several Caribbean nations have also sought to cut ties with the monarchy after Barbados removed the late Queen Elizabeth as its head of state in 2021. People are, quite simply, less willing to kiss the ring.
I truly hope the conspiracy theories are all for naught, and that Kate Middleton is mentally and physically healthy and recovering. I also hope she knows that the theories that may seem wild also seem to come from a place of genuine concern, from a public that knows that the most dangerous place for any woman is at home.
Update, March 22: Kate Middleton, in a video released by Kensington Palace, announced that she has been diagnosed with cancer.
