This was published 9 months ago
Where is Kate Middleton? Social media searches for a princess
By James Lemon
Social media has been awash with conspiracy theories about the health and location of Catherine, Princess of Wales, since Kensington Palace announced she had been taken to hospital for a planned surgery. Her desire to retain privacy around her health has only fuelled the “Where is Kate?” conspiracy.
Below is a summary of the saga. All dates and times are London time.
December 25, 2023 – Catherine’s last public appearance
Catherine, as the former Kate Middleton is now known, is last seen in public after the Christmas Day service at Sandringham when she walks with the rest of the family to greet the public. King Charles has followed his mother’s tradition of hosting the royal family in Sandringham for the holiday.
Catherine, Princess of Wales and Mia Tindall greets well-wishers after attending the Christmas service at Sandringham Church on December 25.Credit: Getty
December 28, 2023 – Royal convoy mystery
An anonymous account on X posts a video purported to show a royal convoy heading “in the direction of King Edward VII’s Hospital”. This post will later become a talisman for social media conspiracists. That hospital is about 200 metres down the road from The London Clinic, where Catherine had surgery.
January 17, 2024 – Palace says Catherine in hospital
Kensington Palace announces Catherine went to hospital for a “planned abdominal surgery” the day before and that it had been successful. The statement says the princess is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter (March 31) and that she wishes to keep her medical information private.
January 18 – William visits Catherine
Prince William is photographed leaving The London Clinic the day after Catherine’s surgery. The Sun would later report he visited her every day she was there.
Prince William, left, drives away from the London Clinic on January 18.Credit: PA
January 20 – Spanish report comes out
Journalist Concha Calleja reports on Spanish television that Catherine’s condition was much worse than reported and that she was actually hospitalised earlier, on December 28 – the same date as the video that claimed to show a royal convoy rushing to hospital.
January 28 – Calleja strikes again
Calleja stands by her earlier reports and adds that Catherine had to be put into a medically induced coma. The story starts to gain more traction outside of Britain.
January 29 – Catherine released from hospital
Kensington Palace announces the princess has been released from hospital and will continue her recovery in Windsor. There are no photographs.
February 1 – Kensington Palace denies Spanish report
A Kensington Palace spokesperson tells The Times that Calleja’s reports are completely made up. It is unusual for a palace spokesperson to be quoted in the media, let alone for a such a gossip-driven story. It is common practice for the various royal media units to brief journalists, but not be quoted directly: commenting directly is generally avoided by royal households.
February 9 – Catherine leaves Windsor
The Daily Mail reports that Catherine left Windsor for Sandringham to spend the school holidays with her children. This trip was later confirmed by other media outlets, but no photos emerge.
February 27 – William pulls out of event, Palace announces Kingston death
Prince William cancels an official appearance in Windsor at the last minute, fuelling the social media bandwagon which assumes Catherine’s condition must have worsened. After Buckingham Palace announces the death of a fringe royal, Thomas Kingston, a number of media outlets make it known that William’s cancellation was unrelated to Catherine.
February 28 – Kensington Palace addresses social media “madness”
Kensington Palace again breaks protocol by commenting in The Sun about the rumour mill.
“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.
“Obviously, we’ve seen the madness of social media and that is not going to change our strategy.
“There has been much on social media but the princess has a right to privacy and asks the public to respect that.”
March 4 – Paparazzi gets first glimpse
A paparazzi shot of Catherine in a car is published on a US-based celebrity gossip site. The photo, which shows the princess in large sunglasses in the passenger seat while her mother drives, is nowhere to be seen in British media.
Some organisations state that they have chosen not to publish it over privacy concerns. The social media conspiracy community speculates the woman may not necessarily be the princess.
March 10 – Infamous manipulated photo released
A family portrait of Catherine and her three children is posted on the @princeandprincessofwales Instagram account. The caption thanks the public for their support and wishes them a happy Mother’s Day (the holiday falls in March in the UK). The photo credit is signed “The Prince of Wales, 2024”.
The British media begins to roll this first sighting of Catherine out onto their front pages when photo agencies issue a recall of the image, with AP stating that it had been “manipulated at the source”.
Newspapers quickly change tack and the internet is awash with stories: half studying body language and describing her smile, the others delving into the mysterious edits, which appear to inadvertently leave a ghostly floating piece of sleeve and other glitches.
March 11 – Catherine apologises for edits, spotted in public
A post on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ X, signed C for Catherine, apologises for “any confusion” and attributes the edits to the princess.
“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 same day, Goff Photos – a photo agency that supplies magazine and newspapers with celebrity photos – manages to get a photo of Catherine in the passenger seat of a Range Rover driven by William. It is the first time the princess has been seen in public since March 4 and only the second since Christmas Day, though the fact that she is facing away from the camera meant it was not enough to satisfy the “Where is Kate?” community.
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