Celebrity fans divided over Princess Catherine’s Windsor farm shop visit
Andy Cohen, Jillian Michaels and more royal fans have weighed in on Princess Catherine’s appearance in new footage.
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Footage of Princess Catherine hasn’t silenced the conspiracy theorists.
Skeptics took to social media to express their disbelief shortly after photos and video of the Princess of Wales shopping with Prince William at a local farm stand in Windsor were released.
“That ain’t Kate …” tweeted Andy Cohen, TV talk show host and mastermind behind The Real Housewives franchise. Cohen has 2.4 million followers on X.
That ain’t Kate….
— Andy Cohen (@Andy) March 19, 2024
According to Page Six, X (formerly Twitter) was agog with speculation: “I’m am sorry but that’s not her,” tweeted a fan who added “#FakeKate” to her message.
“They should’ve just paid Steven Spielberg to fake a video of Kate because that TMZ video just made everything worse,” tweeted another, adding an image of Middleton snapped in 2023 and a grab of her from the farm stand video.
“That’s not the same person #KateGate #fakekate #KateMiddleton,” observed another who also shared split images.
On the other hand, American fitness expert and celebrity nutritionist Jillian Michaels told TMZ she thought Princess Catherine looked “fine” in the farm stand video, and not underweight or unhealthy considering the is recovering from surgery.
In footage shared by The Sun, the future queen smiled as she briskly walked alongside her husband the Prince of Wales while carrying a large shopping bag.
Princess Catherine, 42, wore a casual outfit of dark leggings and a zip-up sweatshirt. She let her long hair fall against her all-black outfit.
But social media is still rife with suspicion about the authenticity of the subject and some TikTok users have even employed AI to get a better look at Kate.
This the clearest one I have seen. I am sorry but that's not her.
— Sakshi Narula (@mssakshinarula) March 19, 2024
#FakeKate#KateMiddletonpic.twitter.com/ay8Zc1KPBL
Royal historian Hugo Vickers earlier said that there will be “more pressure” the longer Kensington Palace leave any announcement on the royal’s health.
“Well, it’s not impossible, because there’s been a lot of pressure on Kensington Palace, and the longer they leave it, I guess the more pressure there will be,” Vickers said.
“So I don’t know, but let’s wait and see. There could well be some kind of an announcement.
“There will come a point where Catherine, when she’s fully better, you know, will in some way discuss maybe her illness, whatever that may be, in an appropriate way.”
“Leave her alone, let her get better at her own pace. We admire her and respect her.
“Why are we treating her as if she’s some sort of a criminal for having tried to improve a photograph one way or another.
“It was very unattractive what was done last week, but I think the sympathy is absolutely there.”
WHEN KATE WILL RETURN TO ROYAL DUTIES
It comes as the Princess of Wales was spotted looking “happy, healthy and relaxed” on a visit to one of her favourite shops in Windsor over the weekend.
Princess Catherine was seen visiting The Windsor Farm Shop, which sells local produce from the royal estate, alongside Prince William.
Footage of the royal couple walking in the car park has since emerged after it was reported in The Sun that they had been seen out and about
The popular produce store, which also serves as a cafe and is situated on the edge of the scenic Home Park, is a short drive from the Wales’ family home Adelaide Cottage.
A bystander who spotted the royal couple told The Sun: “After all the rumours that had been going round I was stunned to see them there.
“Kate was out shopping with William and she looked happy and she looked well.
“The kids weren’t with them but it’s such a good sign she was healthy enough to pop down to the shops.”
Since returning home from her two-week stay at the hospital, the Princess of Wales has remained largely out of the limelight, opting to recover at her home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.
The sighting came after the royal couple spent the morning watching their three children Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, take part in sports.
The Princess of Wales’ health has been the subject of wild speculation and conspiracy theories since she underwent abdominal surgery for an undisclosed condition in January.
She was last seen on public duty on Christmas Day at the royal family’s Sandringham Christmas service and could be out of action until at least after Easter.
However, it was reported that she has not ruled out making a return to the public eye on Easter Sunday.
The Telegraph reported that the Princess of Wales could join her family for the traditional walk to church in Windsor.
If that is the case, Catherine may well make her first comments about her health while interacting with the public.
The Sunday Times quoted a source as saying that the Princess of Wales and her husband may soon open up about her health issues, possibly during a public engagement.
“They are at their most open when out interacting with members of the public and I can see a world in which the Princess might discuss her recovery out on engagements,” the source said.
“If she was going to do it, that’s how she would do it.”
Another friend told The Sunday Times: “They will want to be clear and more open, but they’ll do it when they feel ready.
“I would expect that to be her instinct and it will be her call. They’re not going to be rushed.”
The friend said Catherine was “not a show pony” and it was “entirely right” for the royal pair to not want to be “drawn into a game about what is going on with her health”.
Speculation about Catherine’s health exploded after she released a family photo to mark Mother’s Day that was later founded to have been photoshopped.
The Princess of Wales was said to be “devastated” that the sweet Mother’s Day picture released by Kensington Palace triggered a global furore over concerns by some of the world’s top photo agencies that it had been “manipulated”.
She later made a rare personal apology for “editing” the image, but it only inflamed online speculation about her health.
Despite the photo controversy, sources told The Sunday Times that Prince William and Princess Catherine are intending to release a new family image to mark Prince Louis’ sixth birthday on April 23.
“They appreciate the public’s love and affection for their children and know there is a public appetite to see them on their birthdays,” an aide told The Sunday Times.
TUCKER CARLSON ‘FALLS FOR KATE PRANK’
Former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson has allegedly fallen victim to an outrageous Princess Catherine prank carried out by two British YouTubers.
Josh Pieters and Archie Manners tricked Carlson into a fake interview with a person they claimed was a “disgruntled former employee” of Kensington Palace who had been fired over the photo scandal.
In a video shared to X, formerly Twitter, the pair claimed they fooled the presenter into interviewing Manners for a “global exclusive” on his streaming show, The Tucker Carlson Network.
The pair even created fake employment documents to make the prank seem more authentic, they said.
“I sent (Carlson) an email claiming Archie was Kate and William’s digital content creator who had been fired for photoshopping the image so badly, people thought it was fake,” Pieters said in the video.
Manners told Deadline he and Pieters later decided to admit the hoax before the interview was streamed on Carlson’s show.
“We didn’t want to cause any more rumours, that are not true, to go out to lots and lots of people,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time that one of Pieters’ notorious pranks has caused controversy.
In 2020, he infamously duped British commentator Katie Hopkins into flying to Prague to accept the “Campaign to Unify the Nation Trophy”.
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