As everyone knows, nothing is more interesting than drama concerning a royal family, especially when it comes from the United Kingdom. Recently, there has been a growing concern about the whereabouts and well-being of Catherine, Princess of Wales- or more commonly known as Kate Middleton. 

If you don’t know, Kate Middleton is married to Prince William, the heir to the British throne. Together they share three children named George, Charlotte, and Louis. Middleton is also set to become the next queen consort after King Charles dies and Prince William assumes the crown. 

So just how did these rumors of a missing princess start? Many people online started to comment their concerns after Middleton hadn’t been seen since Christmas Day, which is unusual when it comes to royalty as they are always in the spotlight. On January 17, Kensington Palace announced that Middleton had gone to the hospital for a planned abdominal surgery stating, “The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.” But many were still convinced that things were not right within the monarchy.

The public image of Middleton and those surrounding her took a turn for the worse when a photo was released of her in a car. Lots of people on social media apps, like Tiktok and X, did not believe that the woman in the image was the princess and instead a photo double meant to calm suspicions. 

About a week later, an “official” photograph was released of Middleton posing with her children for Mother’s Day in the U.K., but that photo was quickly criticized. It was easy to notice the flaws resulting from the obvious editing. Some of the most noticeable errors are that Prince Louis’ fingers were severely crooked, some of Princess Charlotte’s clothing pieces were weirdly layered, and Middleton’s facial expression was the exact same as her Vogue cover from December 2023. Of course, the internet went wild as soon as the photo was released, pointing out every minor detail. Middleton even went on to release a statement about the picture saying, “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.” Later on, the Associated Press advised news organizations to remove the photo from their press as it was clearly manipulated and not up to standards. This added even more fuel to the already growing fire, with many saying that this was a poor attempt to cover up the lousy work of Kensington Palace. If anything, the editing fail reaffirmed the public’s belief that something strange is happening. 

Senior Sidney Gonzalez commented, “It’s kind of weird that they’re doing all of this and it makes me think there is more going on than what they make it out to be.”

Just a couple of days ago, a video was released of Middleton and Prince William at a farm. Even though the video is a bit blurry, the woman looks more like Middleton than any of the other released images so far. So is Kate Middleton okay or was the woman just another supposed body double?

Some of the most popular theories of what actually happened to Middleton are quite interesting. Some say that they believe Kate Middleton died or is in a very bad health condition. While others say her and Prince William are in the middle of a divorce, and that this is a repeat of what occurred between King Charles and Princess Diana in the 90’s. Although many are taking a humorous point of view, claiming that the princess is in recovery from getting a BBL or that she was the mastermind behind the failed Willy Wonka event at Glasgow.

Gonzalez also stated, “I would not be surprised if something actually was wrong. It just seems very typical of the British to do strange things and try to cover it up after. But I also think that people are making this entire situation into a bigger deal. On social media, it looks like Americans care more than British people.”

It is currently unknown what is really going on with the royal family as more information is being released daily.