Forget Carmen Sandiego. Where is Kate Middleton? Catherine, Princess of Wales, hasn’t been seen in a while, sending the internet into a tailspin.
The Mystery
On Christmas Day 2023, Kate was last seen in public with her husband, Prince William, their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and her father-in-law, the newly crowned King Charles. They were spotted walking to the annual Christmas morning service. This was the last official sighting of Kate.
Then, on 17 January 2024, Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Waleses, released a statement stating that the Princess of Wales had been admitted to the hospital for planned abdominal surgery and was expected to be there for ten to fourteen days. “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private,” the statement stated.
On 29 January, the palace released another statement, stating that Kate had been discharged from the hospital and was “making good progress.”
The paparazzi then caught a snap of Mrs Wales on 4 March while she was being driven around by her mother, Carole.
Then, this past weekend, an “official portrait” of Kate and her three children as a Mother’s Day commemoration. The United Kingdom’s celebration of this celebration is rooted in the Christian observance of Lent, with Mothering Sunday taking place on the fourth Sunday, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday. The photo was very clearly edited, with the Associated Press releasing a statement about why they pulled it from circulation.
If you think we’re drowning in statements, we’re not done yet. The Princess released a statement apologising for the doctored image. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she said.
What is going on?
The Conspiracy Theories
Now, the mystery of Kate’s absence (or disappearance?) has, naturally, led people on the internet to speculate on her whereabouts. Here is TikTokker FluentlyForward giving us a recap of some of the darkest theories:
There’s also a theory of a pending divorce for the Waleses.
Other Vanishing Royals
Princess Kate isn’t the only Princess who has gone missing in recent years. In 2020, our homegirl, Princess Charlene of Monaco, disappeared from Monaco and returned to South Africa to recover from an ear, nose, and throat infection. She remained in South Africa and received treatment.
She returned to Monaco in October 2021, sparking many rumours about a potential split with Prince Albert. She also deleted her Instagram account in the summer of 2023. 👀
Then there’s Sheikha Latifa of Dubai, who managed to escape from Dubai in late February 2018, only to be forcibly returned from international waters near the Indian coast on 4 March 2018 in a joint operation involving India and the Emirates. It was believed she was being held against her will under the orders of her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Later, in December 2018, the Dubai Royal Court announced that she was back in Dubai.
However, things took a turn in June 2021 when a statement issued on her behalf by the law firm Taylor Wessing indicated that she was free to travel and desired privacy. By August 2021, Latifa had been spotted in public places in Dubai, Spain, and Iceland, marking the end of the three-and-a-half-year-old #FreeLatifa campaign.
In a more recent development, in February 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, disclosed that she met with Latifa in Paris and that Latifa was doing well, emphasising her wish for privacy and respect.
We’re just playing a waiting game to see if Princess Kate returns to duty after Easter or if we’ll get more poorly photoshopped images.
