As everyone knows by now, Kate Middleton has been absent from public life since she took medical leave following abdominal surgery in January. Despite repeated statements from Kensington Palace explaining that she would not be continuing with royal engagements until after Easter, conspiracy theories pertaining to her health and whereabouts have reached fever pitch.
The Princess of Wales has not been officially seen since Christmas Day. To ease growing concern and end speculation, the Palace released a Mother's Day portrait of Kate Middleton smiling with her three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. However, when it came to light that the image had been doctored by the source and was recalled from all major press agencies, it only made matters worse.
The entire PR fiasco has led to growing search around the Princess of Wales, with 'When was Kate Middleton last seen?' becoming a popular Google search enquiry. To avoid further speculation, here are all the times Kate Middleton has been seen since taking leave in January.
Kate Middleton was spotted in a car with her mum Carole Middleton
The first time Kate Middleton was seen after it was announced that she had been hospitalised for planned abdominal surgery and then planned to recover at home was a blurry image of her in a car with her mother, Carole Middleton on 4 March.
In the image, Carole is driving the car and Kate Middleton is wearing sunglasses in the passenger seat. The photo was taken in Windsor, near where Kate and Prince William live with their three children.
The grainy, poor-quality image prompted so many questions and theories online, with #WheresKate and #KateGate trending on X, that Kensington Palace issued a second statement in response. It said: '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.'
The Mother's Day photograph
To quash growing concern and endless conspiracy theories, Kensington Palace shared a photograph of Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on its official social media accounts on 10 March. The caption read, 'Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C' and Prince William was credited as the photographer.
However, not long after the photo was shared, a 'kill notice' was issued by major press agencies including AFP, AP, Getty and Reuters, on the grounds that the image had been manipulated by the source and did not meet the correct standards.
Understandably, this fanned the flames of conspiracy theorists online and meant the public were awaiting an explanation from Kensington Palace. Kate then responded herself, writing: '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.'
Kate Middleton was seen in a car with Prince William
Shortly after the Mother's Day image scandal, Kate Middleton was photographed leaving Windsor Castle in a car with Prince William. Her face is turned away from the camera, but it is believed that she was on her way to a scheduled medical appointment. Prince William, however, was on his way to Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Day service.
Kate Middleton was seen leaving Windsor Farm Shop with Prince William
On 18 March, a video of Kate Middleton and Prince William leaving Windsor Farm Shop was shared by The Sun. In the short clip, Kate Middleton was seen wearing exercise leggings and a rain coat and Prince William was wearing a baseball hat, and they were both carrying shopping bags.
The video was taken by a member of the public from behind parked cars. It is the first time video footage of Kate Middleton has been seen since her surgery in January.
Despite unjustified rumours questioning the authenticity of the video, Kensington Palace has made it clear that Kate has requested privacy – and how or where she spends her recovery time is none of our business.