duchess of cambridge visit today

Prince William and Kate Middleton warm hearts at East Anglia's Children's Hospices

The Duchess of Cambridge is a Royal Patron of EACH

• Updated 07:25, 24 JUN 2022

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are making a number of appearances around Cambridgeshire today (June 23). So far Will and Kate have visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge as well as East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) in Milton.

The pair have been welcomed with open arms and wide smiles from adoring fans who lined Trumpington Street outside the Fitz, where their first ever portrait was revealed. At EACH the royals were met by pupils from a local school and by the families of children who have been helped by EACH.

This afternoon, Kate Middleton and Prince William's will visit the Cambridgeshire County Day at Newmarket Racecourse, in honour of the Platinum Jubilee, as the inaugural Cambridgeshire County Day has been planned in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen's 70 years of service.

Though the Jubilee celebrations were more than two weeks ago now, crowds are gathering in Newmarket today for the county festivities, where more than 6,000 visitors are expected.

All the latest updates from Kate and William's visit will be published in our live blog below, from photos to videos, interviews and news. For more royal news, sign up for the Keeping Up With The Cambridges newsletter and join our royal Facebook group .

The royals visited the charity for the first time in a decade today

Kate middleton finger paints with children at each on royal visit to cambridge - photos.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge melted hearts during their visit to East Anglia's Children's Hospices in Milton this afternoon. To view the pictures from today, click our gallery below:

Kate and Will stop to get photo with Eamonn

Just as Kate and Will were leaving Christ the Redeemer church after meeting people from housing charity Jimmy's, they stopped to take a photo with Eamonn Kelly who lives in a modular home. He described them as "down to earth" and was thrilled when they took time out of their schedule to get a photo with him.

Archive photo of Jimmy's 2012 visit

This photo shows Kate chatting to people at Jimmy's when the royal couple visited 10 years ago on November 28, 2012.

Royals meet Pete 10 years later

One of the residents of the Modular Homes Pete met their Royal Highnesses Prince William and Kate Middleton on their first visit to Jimmy's in 2012, and again today. Pete said:

They did (remember) it was nice. He said he’d come and see me in another 10 years. We spoke about my past and getting to where I am now. They’re both really nice people, definitely. And they’re just interested in how far I’ve moved since last time and I said without Jimmy’s I wouldn’t have done it and I’ve got my own flat now.

Kate and Will visit Jimmy's homeless charity and modular homes

Kate and Will visit Eamonn Kelly's modular home where he is supported by charity Jimmy's. Eamonn is from Belfast and has been in Cambridge for 14 years - the last two of which have been in his modular home. The 52-year-old said:

I got on very well, they were down to earth people, they were very genuine. They were interested in you as a person, not your past or your future, you just can’t get any better than those two people, but only for this person (Mark Allan) I wouldn’t be here the way I am today, it’s them, Matt Wiseman, Zoe, it’s all them that have made it possible for both me and Pete to be where we are today.

Watch our video about Kate and Will visiting the Fitzwilliam

Photos show royals in each garden.

On this lovely sunny day Kate and Will have been seen chatting outside in the garden at EACH, as well as visiting inside the facility.

Little Willow paints Duchess's hand for picture

Their Royal Highnesses went to the EACH playroom and met the Bayliss family, parents Sarah and Paul and Hugo, seven years old who has DiGeorge Syndrome. His brother George was also there. Willow Bamber, eight years old has Leigh’s Disease. She is with parents Michelle and Jamie. They also have another daughter, 13 years old who uses the services and as the same condition as Willow. But she isn’t here and currently on a residential trip.

Kate sits down and asks Willow about the painting that they’ve been creating and reassured her saying "don’t be shy it’s ok", about putting more paint on her hands for the hand print. Kate also asks Willow what to do with her painted hand and where to put it on the picture, letting the little girl press her hand onto the paper for her.

Will and Kate meet children at the East Anglia Children's Hospice

The royals have been meeting families at the East Anglia Children's Hospice today, as the second stop on their visit to Cambridge.

Portrait of royals is a gift to people of Cambridgeshire

'looking forward to seeing you'.

Kate and William shared a sweet message with their fans ahead of their visit to Cambridge today. Read about it in our story below.

Painter on his portrait of royal couple

The artist behind the incredible portrait of the Cambridges is Jamie Coreth. Speaking after the royals saw his work for the first time he said it was the "most extraordinary privilege of my life to be chosen to paint this picture". He added:

I wanted to show Their Royal Highnesses in a manner where they appeared both relaxed and approachable, as well as elegant and dignified. As it is the first portrait to depict them together, and specifically during their time as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I wanted the image to evoke a feeling of balance between their public and private lives. The piece was commissioned as a gift for the people of Cambridgeshire, and I hope they will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

Duke and Duchess leave the Fitzwilliam Museum

The Duke and Duchess have left the museum after viewing their official portrait, which was commissioned by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund, held by the Cambridge Community Foundation, as a gift to Cambridgeshire.

The royals meet school children

Kate and William were all smiles as they greeted the crowd of young children waiting outside the Fitzwilliam Museum. The children were waiting while the couple viewed their portrait, then had the chance to speak with them briefly afterwards.

Portrait of Cambridges revealed

Painted by Jamie Coreth, the portrait depicts Kate in an elegant emerald dress and William in a black suit

Crowds gather to welcome Duke and Duchess

Crowds of onlookers have gathered on the pavement outside the Fitzwilliam Museum for a glimpse of the royal couple.

Kate is radiant in powder blue

The Duchess of Cambridge is famed for her impeccable style and as usual she looks splendid.

Today Kate is wearing a long powder blue coat which is matched to a pair of of blue heels. Underneath she's wearing a lightweight fabric which has a stunning ombre pattern on a white base, with blue and red tones mixed in.

Stay up to date with all the latest news on Kate and William

For all the latest news on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, sign up to our newsletter 'Keeping up with the Cambridges'

The Duke and Duchess arrive at the Fitzwilliam

Kate and William have arrived at the Fitzwilliam Museum to view their new portrait for the first time. The painted portrait was commisssioned in 2021 by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund as a gift. It was painted by Jamie Coreth who will meet the royals, alongside other supporters of the project.

We report live from the Fitzwilliam as the Cambridges arrive

Fiona Leishman films a live video as the Cambridges arrive at the museum.

Watch the Facebook live broadcast here for a look at the action in real time.

Explained: What is Cambridgeshire County Day

Read our article below to find out exactly what Cambridgeshire County Day is and what is happening to mark the occasion.

Join our KUWTC Facebook group

All the latest news about the Cambridges gets posted in our exclusive Facebook group. Join to find other dedicated Kate and Wills fans and read everything there is to know about our favourite royals.

Click here to join.

• Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
• Prince William
• Kate Middleton
• Keeping Up With The Cambridges
• Most Recent

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, emerges as Britain's reliable royal as she turns 40

Palace releases new photos of prince william's spouse to mark the day, posing in designer dresses.

Social Sharing

At least there's Kate.

The Duchess of Cambridge, who turns 40 on Sunday, has emerged as Britain's reliable royal.

After Prince Harry and Meghan's stormy departure to California in 2020, the death of Prince Philip last year, and now sex abuse allegations against Prince Andrew, the former Kate Middleton remains in the public eye as the smiling mother of three who can comfort grieving parents at a children's hospice or wow the nation by playing piano during a televised Christmas concert.

"This is the woman who was the commoner who married into the royal family and who has not tripped up, not caused any embarrassment," Katie Nicholl, author of Kate: The Future Queen . "It's not been an easy year, and yet somehow Kate seems to be a bit of a beacon in all of this."

At a moment when the House of Windsor is facing more than its share of controversy, Prince William's spouse has won accolades for her commitment to early education, art and music. The charities she supports gush about her willingness to get personally involved in their causes.

• Royal Fascinator Shadows of a difficult 2021 loom over Royal Family ahead of next year's Platinum Jubilee

Olivia Marks-Woldman was touched by the care Kate put into photographing Holocaust survivors Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein for an exhibition sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Before the shoot, the duchess spent time learning her subjects' stories and used the knowledge to compose the photos, said Marks-Woldman, the trust's CEO.

"It was a really involved, thoughtful participation," she recalled. "But even after those photographs had been taken, the duchess supported the project and supported Steven and Yvonne and took an interest in them and sent them Christmas cards, invited them to the carol service in Westminster Abbey recently and has just been wonderful."

A royal by choice, not birth

Tracy Rennie, deputy chief executive of East Anglia's Children's Hospices, has a similar account from the day Kate visited one of the organization's facilities in 2019. The duchess agreed to talk with the parents and other relatives of a child who had recently died because they wanted to meet her, even though their pain was still raw.

"It was a really supportive conversation actually, to the point we were having a laugh and a joke together as a family before we left — you wouldn't imagine that in such a difficult situation," Rennie said. "They absolutely felt honoured that she'd taken the time out and were overwhelmed by the fact that she was a 'normal person' — their words, not mine. They felt she really cared."

Three new photographs of Kate were released by Kensington Palace on Saturday ahead of her birthday. The portraits by veteran Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi will go on tour around Britain this year before being added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, of which Kate is the patron.

The portraits were taken at London's Kew Gardens in November 2021 and show her in three different dresses, which British media said were by British luxury brand Alexander McQueen.

Kate is a royal by choice, not birth.

The daughter of a flight attendant and a flight dispatcher, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born in Reading, England, on Jan. 9, 1982, and grew up with a younger sister, Pippa, and a younger brother, James.

The Middletons, from a well-to-do area of Berkshire, west of London, moved to Jordan when Kate was two years old because of her father's work. They returned to England in 1986, and Kate attended the exclusive Marlborough College, where she was active in sports including hockey, tennis and netball.

It was at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland that Kate first met Prince William, the elder son of the late Princess Diana and second in line to inherit the British throne after his father, Prince Charles.

First friends and then housemates along with two other students, William and Kate became romantically linked around 2004, when they were pictured together on a skiing trip in Switzerland. Kate graduated in 2005 with a degree in art history and a budding relationship with the prince.

William complained about press intrusion, and Kate's lawyers asked newspaper editors to leave her alone. Even so, the British media followed every twist in their relationship, including a brief split in 2007. William later acknowledged that the couple's romance wobbled for several months, saying they were both young and trying to find their way.

The tabloids dubbed her "Waity Katie" for her patience during their courtship. The couple eventually married at Westminster Abbey in 2011. They have three children.

Surprise concert performance

During 11 years under the royal microscope, Kate has largely avoided criticism by adopting the royal maxim "never complain, never explain."

This was apparent last year when Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, alleged in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that Kate had made her cry during a disagreement over flower girl dresses in the run-up to Meghan and Harry's 2019 wedding. Kate and the palace responded with silence.

Yet Kate still has the ability to surprise.

For a Christmas Eve carol concert at Westminster Abbey, she sat down at a piano and accompanied Scottish singer Tom Walker on For Those Who Can't Be Here , a song inspired by loss and separation during the pandemic.

While it wasn't a secret that Kate had studied the instrument, the pre-recorded performance during a nationally televised concert was something new altogether. Walker said he didn't know what to expect when the palace suggested the duchess might accompany him in performing the new song at the event.

• Duchess of Cambridge praised for piano skills in Christmas carol concert

"It was essentially, for the duchess, a giant gamble," Walker told the AP. "It really is jumping in at the deep end and just hoping you can swim. Because I would have my own reservations about rocking up to a venue to play with somebody else's band on a song that I hadn't written and pull it off with absolute grace. It's not an easy thing, so it must have been quite a challenge."

Biographer Nicholl, who has watched Kate for years, said the performance offers an insight into Kate's character, describing her as gutsy and self-assured — a person aware of her strengths.

With Queen Elizabeth preparing to celebrate 70 years on the throne later this year and the focus squarely on the longevity of the monarchy, Kate's place as the wife of a future king and the mother of another will loom even larger.

With files from Reuters

Related Stories

• Royal Fascinator Will Camilla be called Queen when Charles becomes King? New honour for Duchess of Cornwall sparks curiosity
• Royal Fascinator Preparing to do more: Barbados visit reflects evolving role of Prince Charles in royal transition
• Royal Fascinator Contradictions, charisma and a well-known story: Why it's so hard to become Diana on screen

Support pours in for Princess Kate after cancer treatment announcement

The latest on princess kate.

• Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced today that she is undergoing cancer treatment .
• Her announcement comes after months of speculation about her health.
• A photo released March 10 of Kate and her children added fuel to speculation the royals had hoped to rein in.
• She was reportedly seen out last weekend on a shopping trip .
• Britain’s data watchdog launched an investigation this month after a report that staff members at the elite hospital where Kate underwent surgery had tried to access her medical records.

Coverage on this live blog has ended. Please click here for the latest updates.

President Biden and first lady praying for Kate

Jill biden to princess kate: 'you are brave'.

Rebecca Cohen

The first lady added "we love you" in a post on X, signed "Jill."

London reacts to Kate's announcement

The Associated Press

‘Preventative chemotherapy’ explained

Erika Edwards

Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Marina Kopf

Kate, the Princess of Wales, said Friday that she is in the early stages of  “preventative chemotherapy” for cancer  that was found following abdominal surgery in January. 

Kate did not say what type of cancer doctors found, or how advanced it was. But cancer doctors say that, in general, preventive or, more specifically, “adjuvant” chemotherapy is quite common following  surgery that finds cancer .

“It’s almost like an insurance policy,” said Dr. Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. “The person has had surgery to remove all the cancer that is visible, and then we give chemotherapy to try to eliminate or get rid of any remaining cells that might be in the body but are too small to be seen.” 

Read the full story here.

French President Emmanuel Macron wishes Kate a 'full recovery'

"In this difficult period you are going through, Brigitte and I wish you a full recovery," Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said on X , adding, "Your strength and resilience inspire us all."

Princess Kate's brother reacts publicly to cancer news

In a post on Instagram featuring Princess Kate and her brother, James Middleton, as children, Middleton wrote: "Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too ⛰️❤️"

Wimbledon expresses support for Princess Kate

"The thoughts of everyone at the All England Club are with our Patron HRH The Princess of Wales, HRH The Prince of Wales and their family at this time," a post on the Wimbledon X account said.

"We wish The Princess of Wales the very best as she takes the time she needs to make a full recovery," the statement added.

Ivanka Trump sending 'love and prayers' to Princess Kate and family

In a comment on the Prince and Princess of Wales' Instagram post featuring Princess Kate's cancer treatment announcement, Ivanka Trump said she is "sending love and prayers to you and your family."

Prince Harry and Meghan wish 'health and healing' for princess

"We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace," Prince Harry and Meghan said in a statement.

Why Kensington Palace waited to go public with Princess Kate's cancer news

Molly Hunter

NBC News' Molly Hunter breaks down the reasons why Princess Kate may have waited as long as she did to share that she's undergoing treatment for cancer.

For one, Kate needed time to recover following major abdominal surgery in January that the palace said was planned.

Second, she has been processing the news of a cancer diagnosis with her husband, Prince William, as the pair comes to terms with what this means for the otherwise healthy 42-year-old.

And finally, perhaps most importantly, Kate was waiting for the right moment to tell her young kids about her situation to make sure they understood and that she is and will be OK. Notably, Kate wanted her kids to hear the news from her, not from media reports or the rumor mill.

Justin Trudeau expresses support for Princess Kate

"My thoughts are with the Princess of Wales, her children, and the entire Royal Family following the news of her cancer so courageously shared," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X.

"On behalf of Canadians, I’m sending my support as she undergoes treatment. We’re all wishing her a swift recovery."

White House reacts to Princess Kate news

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered thoughts on Princess Kate at her news briefing today.

“We just heard the terrible news,” Jean-Pierre said moments after Princess Kate's announcement.

“Our thoughts are with the Duchess of Cambridge and her family members and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” Jean-Pierre said.

She added that she wishes the princess a "full recovery" and joined the calls to respect her privacy during this time.

Jean-Pierre said she found out about the royal news the same way the public did and she didn't have anything to share regarding conversations between President Joe Biden and the royals.

“We are incredibly sad to hear of the news,” Jean-Pierre said. “We are taking this in, this terrible news, as all of you are.”

King Charles 'so proud' of Princess Kate for cancer announcement

King Charles III is "so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did," according to a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace.

The statement from the palace added that since Charles and Kate were in the hospital together earlier this year, Charles has "remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks."

Charles and Queen Camilla "will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time," according to the palace.

NBC News royal contributor Katie Nicholl comments on how Kate Middleton’s video message will put conspiracy theories to an end and allow the public to take on a protective role.

Leader of Labour Party sends 'thoughts' and 'very best wishes' to Princess Kate and family

Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said in a statement on behalf of the party that he is sending his "very best wishes" to Princess Kate and that his "thoughts" are with the royal family.

"Any cancer diagnosis is shocking," Starmer wrote. "But I can only imagine the added stress of receiving that news amid the lurid speculation we've seen in recent weeks."

He added that she and her family are "entitled to privacy" and that he is "heartened by The Princess of Wales' optimistic tone and her message of faith and hope."

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reacts to Princess Kate's cancer announcement

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Princess Kate "has the love and support of the whole country as she continues her recovery."

"She has shown tremendous bravery with her statement today," Sunak wrote on X. "In recent weeks, she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media."

Sunak added that the princess deserves "the privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family."

London mayor wishes Princess Kate 'a swift recovery'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on X that he wished Princess Kate "a swift recovery" as she undergoes chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis.

"Cancer has an impact on so many of us — & her bravery in sharing her diagnosis will help raise awareness & encourage others to get checked," Khan said.

Kate's surgery led to conspiracy theories across social media

Princess Kate’s surgery and withdrawal from the public eye led to speculation and conspiracy theories that spread across social media.

The royal rumor mill was sent into overdrive when a family photo of Kate and her children — released to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K. and in an apparent bid to end the speculation — was pulled by photo agencies.

As uproar grew, Kensington Palace said that Kate had edited the photo and apologized “for any confusion.”

Read Kate's announcement in full

I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery.

It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.

As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.

We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.

At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer. For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.

Watch: Princess Kate says she is being treated for cancer in video announcement

King charles has also been undergoing treatment for cancer.

King Charles III was also diagnosed with cancer and has been undergoing treatment, Buckingham Palace announced last month.

The palace has not specified what kind of cancer the king has or at what stage it was initially found, but the announcement that he is facing cancer was in and of itself a break with historical royal protocol, in which medical ailments were often hidden from the public.

Princess Kate asks for privacy for her and her family

In today's announcement that she is undergoing treatment for cancer, Princess Kate asked for “time, space and privacy” for her and her family while she undergoes chemotherapy.

"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family," Kate said. "As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment."

She added that it has "taken us time" to explain what is going on to their three young kids — George, Charlotte and Louis — "in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK."

Princess Kate announces she is undergoing treatment for cancer

LONDON — Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced Friday that she was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing "a course of preventative chemotherapy," breaking her silence after weeks of widespread speculation over the popular royal’s health.

The 42-year-old wife of  Prince William , Britain’s future king, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks at the private London Clinic after unspecified abdominal surgery in January, which the palace described as planned. She said she is "now in the early stages of that treatment."

The announcement did not specify what kind of surgery Kate underwent earlier this year, what kind of cancer she is being treated for, or at what stage the cancer was found.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Watch the emotional moment Kate Middleton shares her cancer diagnosis with the world

Share this with

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The Princess of Wales has announced she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer in an emotional video message.

She revealed the news in a broadcast on Twitter on Friday evening.

Here is the statement in full:

‘I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery.

‘It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

‘In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous.

‘The surgery was successful.

‘However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.

‘My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

‘This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

‘As you can imagine, this has taken time.

‘It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.

‘But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George , Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.

‘As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

‘Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too.

‘As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you.

‘It means so much to us both.

‘We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.

‘My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.

‘At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer.

‘For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope.

‘You are not alone.’

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] . Or you can submit your videos and pictures here .

For more stories like this, check our  news page .

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here .

MORE : Harry and Meghan react to Royal shock of Kate’s cancer battle

MORE : Piers Morgan eviscerates TV host for ‘distasteful’ mockery of Kate Middleton

MORE : England manager Gareth Southgate sends ‘best wishes’ to Kate Middleton after cancer diagnosis

Sign Up for News Updates

Get your need-to-know latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more.

Privacy Policy

Get us in your feed

Bobbie’s Bests for Less: 50% off handbags, skin care, more

• TODAY Plaza
• Share this —

• Watch Full Episodes
• Read With Jenna
• Inspirational
• Relationships
• TODAY Table
• Newsletters
• Start TODAY
• Shop TODAY Awards
• Citi Concert Series
• Listen All Day

Follow today

More Brands

• On The Show

Kate Middleton at 40: Palace releases 3 stunning photos in honor of her birthday

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is celebrating her 40th birthday on Sunday and in honor of the milestone, Kensington Palace has released three new portrait photos of her.

The photographic series were taken by Paolo Roversi at London's Kew Gardens last November, according to a press release from the palace.

All of the portraits of the former Kate Middleton will become part of the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery, also in London, and will be included in the institution's “Coming Home” project, that features portraits of well-known people in various locations where they have close ties. The project aims to give people across the U.K. the opportunity to view famous works within their own towns and cities.  

Over the course of this year, the new portraits of the duchess will be displayed in three locations that "have a special meaning to Her Royal Highness," according to the release. They'll be on exhibit in Berkshire in southeast England, St. Andrews in eastern Scotland, and Anglesey in northwest Wales. Each of these locations corresponds to a different chapter of the duchess's life.

The duchess was raised in Berkshire with her siblings, Pippa and James Middleton . In 2001, she met Prince William while they were both students at the University of St. Andrews. After Prince George was born in July 2013, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge  lived in a home in Anglesey , while William was serving in Britain's Royal Air Force.

Last month, the duke and duchess showed off their playful side in a photo posted on social media to celebrate the new year. In the shot, the couple were dressed glamorously for the “No Time to Die” premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall as they flashed wide smiles at the camera. 

The duchess also ended 2021 with by sharing a surprise talent of hers . During the “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas” ITV special, she accompanied singer Tom Walker on piano for his holiday song, “For Those Who Can’t Be Here.”

Francesca Gariano is a New York City-based freelance journalist reporting on culture, entertainment, beauty, lifestyle and wellness. She is a freelance contributor to TODAY.com, where she covers pop culture and breaking news.

Duchess Kate marks 40th birthday with new photos

The Duchess of Cambridge turns 40 on Jan. 9.

Duchess Kate is starting 2022 with a milestone birthday.

The Duchess of Cambridge turns 40 on Jan. 9, a birthday she is expected to celebrate privately with her family .

Kensington Palace also released three photos of the duchess to mark her birthday.

The photos, taken in November at Kew Gardens by photographer Paolo Roversi, will become part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, of which Kate is a patron. As part of the gallery's "Coming Home" project, the portraits of Kate will be displayed over the next year in three places with "special meaning" to her, according to the palace.

Kate's portraits will go on display in Berkshire, where Kate was raised and where her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, still live; St. Andrews, where she and Prince William first met; and Anglesey, where William and Kate lived in their first years of marriage.

The new portraits of Kate come as she appears to be starting her new decade with a renewed focus on her royal role.

In the nearly 11 years since she wed Prince William at Westminster Abbey, she has become one of the most popular members of Britain's royal family.

And in recent years, Kate has taken on an increasingly high-profile role in the royal family amid family changes.

At age 95, Queen Elizabeth II has scaled back her public engagements, particularly since a brief hospitalization in October . And Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's decision to step back as senior working royals has left William and Kate, now the only working royals of their generation, to pick up more duties.

The growing public profile has been a "significant transformation" for Kate, who was thrust into the public spotlight when she started dating William while in college, according to ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy .

"I think her desire to do a good job, be liked by the public and respected by the family was palpable in the beginning, and she was clearly very nervous when the spotlight was on her over public speaking," said Murphy. "She built up her workload very gradually, taking on only a small number of patronages initially and taking time before making solo appearances and speeches."

"But over the years, Kate has grown hugely in confidence, and is now a driving force behind how she and William work and the causes they take on," she said.

Trending Reader Picks

Johnson disappointed with chaotic House meeting

• May 17, 3:34 PM

Boat seized in fatal hit-and-run: FWC

• May 15, 7:23 PM

Teen graduates with doctoral degree

• May 14, 12:07 PM

It was Kate, for example, who had the idea to focus on mental health as a cause, according to Murphy, resulting in the very successful Heads Together campaign that launched in 2016 and continues to be a focus of William and Kate's work to this day.

As the Cambridges prepare to one day become king and queen consort, Murphy says the public can expect to see Kate grow even more in her role as she zeroes in on causes close to her heart.

"I’ve always thought that Kate is a team player, cool-headed and a good listener, and that these things have stood her in good stead over the year," said Murphy. "I think she also very much has the ability to compartmentalize, as it has been said the queen does, which is an important quality in handling the pressures of the public role."

Since becoming a mom eight years ago, Kate has focused much of her attention on supporting new parents and young children.

In early 2020, just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Kate launched a nationwide survey to explore what people in the U.K. think about raising children, with a focus on kids under age 5.

MORE: Prince William, Kate share 2021 Christmas card photo

Then in June of last year, the duchess launched the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood , which she said is designed to "raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes, and what we can do as a society to embrace this golden opportunity to create a happier, more mentally healthy, more nurturing society."

At the same time, Kate and the Royal Foundation, William and Kate's charitable arm, released "Big Change Starts Small," a research report on early childhood development.

Kate has also focused much of her work on making sure the outdoors are included in kids' early development. She helped design a "Back to Nature" garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019, and the next year was named joint president of the U.K. Scout Association , marking the first time a royal woman has held the title of president or joint president of the Scouts.

"I think what has changed in the last few years is that it has become really clear what Kate’s main areas of work are in a way that feels much more focused and immersive," said Murphy. "She has always been interested in the outdoors and in young people, but the fact that she is making those areas cornerstones of her work have become a lot more obvious."

Murphy said Kate's commitment to the cause of early childhood education is particularly striking, noting, "It’s a challenging and very broad area but she has shown a real and serious commitment to it over a long period of time that I think has earned her a lot of respect from people who work in this field."

During the pandemic, Kate offered support for parents and students and teachers , and spoke about the experience of quarantining with and leading virtual learning for her own children, Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3.

The glimpse Kate provided into her and William's home life is just one example of how the duchess' growing confidence has allowed her to be more at ease in her public role, according to Murphy.

Kate and William launched a YouTube channel last year, where they share more behind-the-scenes content. And in 2020, Kate gave a rare interview to a motherhood-focused podcast , where she opened up about experiencing mom guilt.

"The [podcast] was a brave move because it could have backfired if people had been critical of the fact she has access to a lot more help than most," said Murphy. "But it ended up being one of the best things she could have done because it really made it clear how hands-on a mother she is and the relatable way she is raising her three children."

Kate has also been more public in recent years about her own passions, whether that is participating in sports, like the tennis game that Kate, an avid fan, played with U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu last year, or photography.

Kate, a college art major who is often the photographer behind family photos shared with the public, last year launched a photography project, "Hold Still ," to capture life during the coronavirus pandemic.

MORE: Royals get into holiday spirit at Christmas carols service hosted by Duchess Kate

The photographs were compiled in a book in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery , of which Kate is a patron.

More recently, in December, Kate hosted her first Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey, honoring people and organizations who supported their communities during the pandemic.

During the concert, Kate delivered a surprise performance, showing off one of her unknown passions, piano playing, when she accompanied singer Tom Walker.

"These things show a willingness to put herself out there and to let us see more of who she is and what she enjoys," said Murphy.

And while Kate seems to be most in her element when outdoors or with kids, she is also happy to embrace the "glamorous side of royal life," according to Murphy.

She stunned in a gold evening gown at the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie in September, and won praise the next month for wearing a recycled Alexander McQueen gown at the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards .

"Over the years there has been much excitement when she has worn tiaras from the queen’s collection," said Murphy. "And even a decade into her public role, she still easily commands all the front pages whenever she makes a red carpet appearance."0ooii9

New portrait of King Charles draws mixed reactions

• May 16, 1:44 PM

Top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler arrested

• 22 minutes ago

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

Kate Middleton, The Princess of Wales

The Princess of Wales has been married to Prince William since April 2011 and together they share three children : Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

The family reside at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, but William and Kate still keep their London-based office at Kensington Palace.

The Princess’ royal duties and official engagements are focused on her main areas of interest, which include the Early Years, the arts, sport, and mental health. She became styled as The Princess of Wales when her husband The Prince of Wales was conferred his title upon King Charles’ coronation in 2023.

Princess Kate's brother James Middleton shares business update ahead of big weekend with family

• Health Update
• Prince William
• Kate Middleton Style
• Prince George
• Princess Charlotte
• Prince Louis
• Kate Middleton Hair
• Prince William And Kate
• Pippa Middleton
• King Charles III
• British Royals
• Meghan Markle

Princess Kate's nanny Maria's daily duties with George, Charlotte and Louis

Peter Phillips' new girlfriend Harriet channels effortless Princess Kate charm

Princess Kate's It-girl bag from her university days is a 2024 spring staple

Remember Princess Kate's brown polka dot dress? M&S just dropped a chic lookalike

Gallery 8 striking royal portraits of Princess Kate, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry and more

Prince William protects Princess Kate's privacy with appearance at gilded family home

Princess Kate's royal tiara rule that has flown under the radar

Princess Kate’s secret appearance at Eurovision - and the touching reason why she was ‘very happy’ to take part

Princess Beatrice set to step in for Princess Kate - report

James Middleton shares sweet video featuring special companion from lavish Berkshire home

Unexpected royal playtime rule Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis have to follow

Prince William makes rare comment about Kate's recovery and reveals why children are 'very jealous' of him

The British Royal Family Tree: a who's who of the monarchy

James Middleton shares adorable spring family photo

Gallery Royals who aced the 'tennis-core' trend before it was even a thing: From Princess Kate to Queen Camilla

Telling sign Princess Kate's recovery is going well as Prince William makes big decision

Prince William's girlfriend Princess Kate parties in sheer wedding guest dress in unearthed photos

How life has changed for Prince William and Princess Kate since the coronation

Princess Kate and Queen Mary's twinning tiara moment that went unnoticed

Gallery 33 most memorable royal weddings of all time: From Princess Kate to Princess Charlene & more

Princess Charlotte debuts tumbling blonde Rapunzel hair - and fans are united

7 strict rules the royal family have to follow on social media

Princess Kate takes candid photograph of Princess Charlotte to mark 9th birthday

King Charles and Queen Camilla host private dinner for London Clinic staff at Clarence House

Princess Kate and Prince William to follow new rule for Princess Charlotte's birthday photo

Sensible Princess Charlotte 'likes to fit in and do the right thing'

Pippa Middleton's slinky second bridesmaid dress for Kate's royal wedding is still so elite

Prince William gives heartwarming update on Princess Kate and their three children

Video Article Prince William and Princess wedding photo was hiding in plain sight - details

Prince William reveals adorable first attempt to woo university sweetheart Princess Kate

Prince William and Princess Kate's surprise anniversary photo has got fans all saying the same thing

Princess Kate's pre-wedding dress is still one of her best outfits

Prince William and Princess Kate share previously unseen wedding photo to celebrate anniversary

London mayoral candidate Natalie Campbell's surprising link to Princess Kate and Duchess Meghan

Gallery Prince William and Princess Kate's 13 years of marriage in loved-up photos

10 things you didn't know about Princess Kate's wedding dress

The big protocol mistake made at Prince William and Kate's wedding that everyone missed

Queen Mary's rare tiara moment was so familiar

Gallery Princess Kate looks exactly like a Disney princess - 9 fairytale looks

Gallery Prince William and Princess Kate's iconic royal wedding – best photos and memorable moments

Podcast Article Why Prince William and Princess Kate will not mark wedding anniversary publicly

All the times James Middleton has shared a glimpse of adorable son baby Inigo

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, slides into Denmark visit as she takes work on early years development abroad

Kate was pictured smiling as she went down a slide at the Lego Foundation PlayLab at University College Copenhagen where she met students.

Tuesday 22 February 2022 19:44, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The Duchess of Cambridge is on a two-day visit to Denmark where she took the work of her childhood foundation abroad for the first time.

Kate launched her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood last June and it aims to increase awareness of the "extraordinary impact" of youngsters' early years to "transform society for generations to come".

Denmark is known as having a world-leading approach to early childhood development and the duchess met researchers from the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project (CIMHP) during a visit to Copenhagen University.

The CIMHP promotes the mental wellbeing of, and relationships between, infants and their parents.

Academics have developed the Alarm Distress Baby Scale - a pioneering screening tool that can help health visitors identify infants at risk of adverse social and emotional development.

Academics also run the Understanding Your Baby research project that provides further training for health visitors so they can help new parents as they start to notice and interpret their baby's behavioural cues.

The duchess, who flew on a scheduled flight, met people involved in the project, including some of the 1,300 first-time parents who have benefited from it.

More on Duchess Of Cambridge

The Kate photos: When conspiracy theories meet the royals

Kate 'determined' to emphasise 'critical importance' of early childhood

Boy dressed up as builder charms Princess of Wales on nursery visit in Luton

Related Topics:

• Duchess of Cambridge

Over 200 health workers have also been involved in the scheme, which started in 2019 and runs to July this year.

Kate's final event of the first day was a trip to the Lego Foundation PlayLab at University College Copenhagen where she met students who are training to be early years professionals, and was pictured going down a slide.

Her working visit will also pay tribute to the long ties the UK and Denmark have and mark the countries' joint jubilees - the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the Golden Jubilee of Denmark's Queen Margrethe II - both of which are this year.

Related Topics

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Nigerian visit is a reminder of how much the House of Windsor could have used them

Analysis Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Nigerian visit is a reminder of how much the House of Windsor could have used them

Prince Harry and Meghan's 72-hour visit to Nigeria has attracted a level of publicity Buckingham Palace has been sorely lacking of late.

The photographs of the former royals taking part in a casual volleyball game, accepting flowers from a little girl and visiting local schools to promote mental health awareness made headlines around the world over the weekend .

Prince Harry drew praise over a heartfelt speech about the importance of "acknowledging bad days ", and photographers snapped pictures as he accepted an invitation to sit and throw the ball around with army veterans wounded in battle against the country's Islamist insurgency.

His wife's instinctive sartorial choices were also avidly followed by royal and non-royal watcher s alike, as was her special connection to the country she called "home".

The lightning-quick tour of Nigeria was intended to champion mental health for young people and promote the Invictus Games, an international sporting event founded by Prince Harry back when he was still firmly within the royal fold.

Nigeria became the first African country to take part in the games last year, with General Christopher Gwabin Musa OFR, the country's highest-ranking military official, extending an invitation to the prince this year to help raise its profile.

But it wasn't a royal tour, it couldn't be. Not after the duke and duchess' decision in 2020 to step back as senior working members of the royal family.

After failing to reach a compromise over a hybrid working model, the couple traded in their lofty titles for the chance to earn a private income, swapping the rigid spotlight of the United Kingdom for carefree California.

Four years later, the British high commissioner in Nigeria was at pains to stress this point, releasing a statement that the couple's visit was in a private capacity and "not an official one".

"They are not representing the work of His Majesty's government on this visit," Richard Montgomery told the News Agency of Nigeria .

It did not prevent the three-day spectacle from making the news locally and within the country Harry and Meghan once considered home.

Some of this attention could not be helped given the stark absences of other senior royals in the public eye in recent months due to illness.

The couple, whether they intended to or not, have demonstrated in their Nigeria stopover, the gap they could have filled had they stayed on as working royals.

And given how small that circle is at the moment, perhaps they have also showed how helpful that would have been.

According to author and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, the visit has drawn recollections of the position the duke and duchess once occupied.

"After all the trashing of Harry ... actually when I saw him and Meghan in Nigeria, I had a nostalgia," she told the BBC.

"I felt this is what could have been, these two — who are enormously appealing to the public, and who are very good at it — were out there in Nigeria looking very attractive and being appealing people. And what a pity it is they've gone"

In her view, the couple's sleek visit was a reminder of the grim realities looming over the slimmed-down royal family and the "Harry-shaped hole in the monarchy".

The importance of a royal tour

Royal tours by their very nature are filled with pomp and ceremony and are considered to be an important part of making the public believe in the power of the monarch.

One of Queen Elizabeth II's favourite mantras was that royals "have to be seen to be believed".

Since medieval times, a monarch's highly orchestrated trips around the country or (in more recent times) the globe has provided their subjects with proof of life and reinforced the magic of the palace.

The late queen was a firm believer in the importance of these public voyages, embarking on dozens throughout her reign after first coming to the role of monarch while on a royal tour.

As the story goes, she was more than 7,000 kilometres from home on a five-month visit of Africa and Australia when she went up a tree a princess and came down a queen.

But in the 21st century, the pageantry of these events is offset by greater scrutiny from a wary public and a sceptical media throng.

Stephen Bates, the former royal affairs writer for the Guardian, writes that press teams that accompany royals on these visits do so now if three conditions are met.

"There may be some newsworthiness to them …; second, to view the royals at close range in a way that’s not normally possible — to see what they are like in person, maybe even speak to them; and third, to test the water for their popularity," he wrote for the Guardian.

Last year, King Charles reportedly began planning the largest-ever series of official tours across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and other countries.

Those rumours were soon confirmed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February, when he revealed discussions were underway for the king's visit Down Under .

There had been speculation his trip might fall alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in October.

However, the king's cancer diagnosis and treatment have thrown these plans into question.

Both King Charles III and Princess Catherine have limited their public engagements since announcing they would be recovering from procedures in January.

The king returned to in-person royal duties in late April , after more than seven weeks away from the spotlight, but his public appearances are still being worked out.

"The pacing of the king's program will be carefully calibrated as his recovery continues, in close consultation with his medical team," a Buckingham Palace statement released last month said.

The government has confirmed there are still plans underway for an Australian visit, though it is far from certain.

This is not surprising, given the publicity these tours can generate and the pressure they place on the people at the centre of them.

Careful and thoughtful preparations play a key part in the success of a tour.

But, as with all best-laid plans, sometimes they can go wrong.

The Caribbean tour that drew unwanted attention

Kate and William's tour across the Caribbean in 2022 was supposed to be one such highly-planned event.

It was hoped the young couple would win over a new generation of subjects growing increasingly dubious about their heads of state.

But reports at the time indicated the then duke and duchess of Cambridge's efforts backfired after a series of faux pas.

The couple's visit to Jamaica was overshadowed when reports emerged not long after their arrival that the country's government had begun the process of transitioning the nation to a republic.

Photographs of the couple standing in an open-top Land Rover and reaching out to grab the hands of children through a wire fence also gave rise to awkward recollections of the monarchy's colonial past.

Royal commentators described the messaging of that tour as "poor at best" and prompting an overhaul of the Prince and Princess of Wales' PR and communications team.

While Meghan and Harry's three-day Nigeria visit is by no means comparable to the spectacle of a royal tour, it has offered some lessons on the importance of leaning on a sophisticated PR machine.

The duchess  reportedly has one of the most powerful managers in Hollywood working for her after a reshuffle of her management team last year following the couple's high-profile exit from a Spotify deal.

But part of the success of the duke and duchess' Nigeria stopover was also in some of the more genuine moments on display for waiting cameras.

A day after landing, Meghan noted the contrast between her neutral wardrobe and those around her, making a swift decision to update her sartorial choices.

"It has been a whirlwind 24 hours since we arrived," Meghan reportedly told guests at an event.

"And I very quickly got the memo that I need to wear more colour so I can fit in with all of you in your incredible fashion!"

Her authentic connection with the country was also a running theme of the visit, with Meghan telling locals she had recently discovered her ancestry traced back to Nigeria.

While on stage at an event in the country's capital, Abuja, the Duchess of Sussex explained that her first reaction after finding out was to tell her mother.

"Being African American, part of it is really not knowing so much about your lineage and background … ," she said.

After the duchess's revelation, Mo Abudu, the anchor and chief executive of EbonyLife media group, asked the audience to suggest a Nigerian name for Meghan.

Someone shouted "Ifeoma", which means "a treasured thing", while another shouted "Omowale", which means "the child has come home".

Could Harry and Meghan return to royal life?

In the years since the couple left, questions have swirled around what may have happened if the dice of fate had landed a different way.

What if Harry and Meghan were still working royals alongside William and Kate?

What might have happened if the young couple were on hand to pitch in and step up their public presence when other royals were absent?

The questions have taken on more relevance after the King and Princess Catherine's dual cancer diagnoses and subsequent withdrawal from the spotlight.

A glimpse of what might have been played out over the weekend as Harry and Meghan underwent their own "private" tour of Nigeria.

While the photographs made those watching nostalgic, it's unlikely the visit will prompt a request to take on official duties back in London or heal the deep rift between the royal family and the young couple.

What it has done is further highlight the small group of working royals operating now, made smaller after the deaths of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, and following Prince Andrew's complete removal from royal life.

But if the king's decision not to see his son when he was in London last week — reportedly due to a full programme —  is anything to go by, any suggestions of a return to royal life are being firmly rebuffed.

Even with a smaller circle of people to rely on, it appears as if the royal family has chosen to keep Harry out in the cold.

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Prince william says kate is 'doing well', in rare public comment about the princess's condition.

King Charles is too busy to see his son Prince Harry, who hopes to see him 'soon'

King Charles to resume public duties, but cancer fight not over

• World Politics

New Royal Exhibition Displays Poignant Portrait of Kate Middleton

A fter much anticipation, the Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography exhibition opened at the King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace on Friday, May 17. The curated collection features previously unseen portraits of the royal family, alongside celebrated images that fans may be more familiar with.

Exhibition curator Alessandro Nasini has selected portraits by esteemed artists including Cecil Beaton, David Bailey, Annie Leibovitz, and Andy Warhol.

The exhibition features a poignant portrait of Kate Middleton, captured by Paolo Roversi and originally shared ahead of the royal’s 40th birthday in 2022. The ethereal black-and-white image sees Middleton displaying her side profile in a white, off-the-shoulder Alexander McQueen gown. The accessories are kept to a minimum, with pearl-drop earrings and her blue sapphire, diamond encrusted engagement ring that famously once belonged to Princess Diana. Middleton adopts a royal-favorite pose, remaining seated and staring into the distance.

When the image was initially released in 2022, alongside two other portraits in honor of Middleton’s birthday, it entered a collection belonging to London's National Portrait Gallery, of which she is a patron.

Delighted to share a new portrait of The Duchess ahead of her 40th birthday tomorrow. This is one of three new portraits which will enter the permanent collection of the @NPGLondon , of which The Duchess is Patron. 📸 Paolo Roversi pic.twitter.com/55Z5qBMLaP — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 8, 2022

The portrait of Middleton has often been compared to one painted over 150 years ago of Queen Alexandra, then the Princess of Wales. Captured by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, the painting shows Alexandra of Denmark in a billowing white gown with crystal blue adornments. Wearing a floral headdress, the royal is standing, but turned to the side ever so slightly.

The exhibition featuring Middleton comes as she continues to take time away from public-facing duties following her cancer diagnosis . In a video shared on March 22, the mum-of-three revealed she had started a course of “ preventative chemotherapy ” after being diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer following a planned abdominal surgery in January. During a recent royal engagement, Prince William said that his wife is “ doing well ” when asked by a concerned member of the public.

As for the royal exhibition, which is set to remain open on select days until Oct. 6, other notable images include a vibrant portrait, featuring bleached out details, of Queen Elizabeth II by Warhol . There is also a striking photograph of King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, taken at Birkhall, his private residence in Scotland. Captured by Nadav Kander , the image was commissioned by TIME for the cover of its Nov. 4, 2013, magazine.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• The New Face of Doctor Who
• Putin’s Enemies Are Struggling to Unite
• Women Say They Were Pressured Into Long-Term Birth Control
• Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
• Boredom Makes Us Human
• John Mulaney Has What Late Night Needs
• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Olivia-Anne Cleary at [email protected]

ROYAL WELCOME: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive in The Bahamas

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, arrived in The Bahamas on a Royal Airforce plane yesterday afternoon, marking the first day in the nation as part of their Caribbean tour to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

But not before eight-year-old flower girl Aniah Moss, a Xaviers Lower Schol student, greeted the royal couple and had a brief exchange with Kate.

Aniah later told Eyewitness News that Kate complimented her on her pink dress and she in kind told said Duchess that her turquoise dress was beautiful.

“I was really excited,” she beamed, recounting the exchange as her proud mother, Kendenique Campbell-Moss, stood beside her.

A joint Royal Bahamas Police Force and Defence Force band played the national anthem for the royals, before Prince William, accompanied by Governor General CA Smith, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle, and RBDF Commodore Dr Raymond King, inspected The Bahamas royal guard.

After the ceremonial greeting, the royal couple was transported to the Office of the Prime Minister to pay a call to Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis.

As the prime minister welcomed the couple to The Bahamas, he said: “I wish that you extend my condolences to the Queen; having attained this milestone, I don’t think we will see it again, not anytime soon.”

The Queen took the throne in 1952, 70 years ago.

Davis and his wife, Anne Marie-Davis, shared a conversation with the Duke and Duchess at the OPM.

Of their visit, Marie-Davis said the couple was excited about the upcoming celebrations and were looking forward to “swimming and diving”.

In an interview following the visit, the prime minister said he and Prince William spoke about several matters of mutual interest, including climate change and carbon credits.

According to Davis, Prince William commended The Bahamas for leading the voice on climate change and punching above its weight.

The prime minister also said the Duke’s visit to The Bahamas was timely to in part “carry back the message that I gave him in respect to our challenges in accessing climate funding”.

Further, Davis noted that Prince William was impressed with Coral Vita on Grand Bahama, which won his inaugural Earthshot Prize, a prize awarded by the Royal Foundation to five winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism.

“I think it is really timely that he is here to be able to carry the message back that I gave him in respect to our challenges in accessing climate funding for our adaptation and mitigation against the rise in sea levels and the devastating hurricanes that we are bound to continue to have,” Davis said.

“What is interesting about that as well in discussing that aspect of this space, I did point out to him that most of our debt and we are heavily indebted — I daresay that at least 50 percent of our debt is directly related to the consequences of climate change with hurricanes and the disruption in our economy when we do have hurricanes and when we have property damage over the last five or six years in the billions, $4-$5 billion.

“And we can see the challenges that we have and I think he took that on and was very interested in how, whatever influence he could have to bring to bear on the world, particularly the countries that are the culprits in emissions, to come to the table.”

In contrast to the celebratory photos and events, the tour has also inflamed anti-colonial sentiment in the region with calls for reparations and for former colonies to sever ties with the Commonwealth by seeking to become a republic.

Several local groups have announced plans to protest or demonstrate the royal visit, though there were no demonstrations as the couple arrived in The Bahamas.

Today, the Duke and Duchess will attend an assembly at Sybil Strachan Primary School, which will be virtually connected to all schools, before visiting the Garden of Remembrance to recognize healthcare frontline workers.

Following, the royals will attend the ‘Taste of The Bahamas’ cultural event at Parliament Square at 11.30am.

The royals will also attend Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee Regatta at Montague, where five boats will race with the Duke and Duchess competing.

The governor general’s reception will cap the evening at Baha Mar’s Convention Center.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Shameful how we are so ignorant as a people. Fawning over the spawn of inbred demonic entities. He comes from high wickedness. Child murderers blood- drinkers and pedophiles. Prince Andrew is the only 1 to get caught publicly. Really a shame how they assasinated their human incubator Princess Di. As an outsider she was the only nice 1. God know what they gonna do with Meghan when she finished breeding for them.

Privacy Overview

Duchess Sophie Photographed Visiting Brand-New Statue of Queen Elizabeth

S ophie, Duchess of Edinburgh , and her husband, Prince Edward , just became the first of the royal family to visit Queen Elizabeth 's new memorial statue in Oakham Library Gardens.

Earlier this week, the royal couple traveled to Rutland and were spotted marveling at the bronze structure, which was originally unveiled on April 21 (what would have been the late queen's 98th birthday ). Considered England's first permanent memorial to the monarch, who passed away at age 96 in September 2022, the seven-foot-tall statue shows the queen as a young woman in regal attire, surrounded by three of her corgis . The engraving on the plinth reads, “Queen Elizabeth II, 1926 – 2022. Erected as a tribute to her late Majesty through public subscription by Rutland people.” 

On Twitter , GHR P'borough Stamford & Rutland News shared a video of the pair in good spirits as they observed the grand sculpture and quietly conversed in front of several spectators.

Per the official royal website , the duke and duchess also watched a film about the statue’s creative journey and met its sculptor, Hywel Pratley. But aside from visiting the historical structure, they also visited the Community Garden. On Instagram, the royal family shared snaps of the couple engaging with young kids in the garden and wrote, "At Rutland Show Ground, their royal highnesses visited the Community Garden,  which uses gardening as a form of learning support for children and therapy for those in the surrounding area."

Additionally, the palace included a snap of the duke and duchess visiting Oakham Castle, the oldest court in the country. According to the royal website , they were "asked to forfeit a symbolic horseshoe, an ancient right of the Lord of the Manor to demand of passing Peers of the Realm." They were also "presented an unusual double horseshoe which in due course will join others displayed on the walls presented by past monarchs and members of the royal family."

In the comments, one fan wrote, "Sophie [is] showing how a duchess is supposed to help and support causes and the royal family with her hard work. She knows she is part of a global royal team, and I really hope she knows how much we are all grateful for that." Another follower wrote, "Great photos of the wonderful Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the people they visited."

Sounds like the royal couple had quite the eventful trip.

Stay up-to-date on every breaking royal family story by subscribing  here .

Soldiers Hand Prince William Touching Gift for Absent Wife Kate Middleton

• Fellowships
• Business Models
• Mobile & Apps
• Audience & Social
• Aggregation & Discovery
• Reporting & Production
• Translations

It’s getting weirder: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media (updated)

Editor’s note: The timeline section of this story was updated in April 2024.

When I realized I was in no fewer than four separate group chats discussing Kate Middleton’s almost complete disappearance from the public eye, I turned to Ellie Hall to help me figure things out.

Ellie, who’s currently a freelance journalist, was senior reporter and official royal correspondent for BuzzFeed News from 2013 until the newsroom shut down in April 2023. The first part of this story is a Q&A, where I spoke with Ellie about royal reporting, social media, Kensington Palace PR strategy, and how a digitally connected world has made the official press apparatus of the royal family and the royal media system somewhat obsolete.

Laura Hazard Owen: Tell me a little about your reporting background and the work you did at BuzzFeed News.

Ellie Hall: I started at BuzzFeed News in January 2013 and reported for them until the newsroom shut down in April 2023. Since then, I’ve been freelancing and doing a bit of consulting work.

I’ve been interested in the British monarchy and its history since I was quite young, and I happily volunteered to cover the royal family during my first weeks at the company. From that point on, I was BuzzFeed News’s official royal correspondent. Although I was able to secure accreditation to cover members of the royal family in person during three separate official visits to the United States, BuzzFeed News was not a media outlet on the official press team’s radar for a fair amount of time (the newsroom did get there eventually).

[ Click here to see the future of news in your inbox daily ]

I always tried to cover the royal family in a way that would interest the hardcore followers as well as casual readers, using my own observations and questions to guide my coverage. My biggest royal story was my January 2020 comparison of U.K. media headlines about Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle , which was actually something I’d been working on and adding examples to since February 2019. Although I had always covered the royal family, the success of that post encouraged my editors to launch a royal newsletter, The Royal Tea , and give me structured time for stories that were more analytical and more in my own voice than straight-up news posts. From that point on, I covered royal news as it broke, but I also wrote a lot of deep dives, analyses, and looks at aspects of the royal media ecosystem that nobody else was really covering.

Owen: Tell me a little bit about Kensington Palace press strategy. What are their strategies, generally? Assume I’m an American who knows nothing about them: Like, can you email them for comment? What kinds of interactions have you had with them?

Hall: One of the first things to know is that the royal family doesn’t have one big press team working together to set the public narrative. The King and Queen have their press team, Buckingham Palace, and the Prince and Princess of Wales have their press team, Kensington Palace. “The Palace” can be used for either royal household when you’re referring to the royal press apparatus in a story. If Prince Harry is to be believed, there is constant infighting, one-upping, and leaking that goes on behind the scenes — staffers for one member of the royal family will give damaging or untrue stories about another member to the press to make their employer look better. He and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have made allegations about this system in interviews and he goes into it in detail in his memoir Spare .

Royal press offices rarely go on the record . As former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger noted in this great column that I reference all the time in my work, it’s “unusually difficult” to judge the reliability of royal reporting because “it is a world almost devoid of open or named sources.” You almost never see stories with direct attributions to royal spokespersons, which is one of the big reasons why this “Kate Middleton is missing” saga is so interesting. A Palace spokesperson has gone on the record three times — first in response to a Spanish media report that Kate was in a coma, then in response to the widespread social media speculation about her status, and then once again in response to William’s reaction to the social media speculation.

Instead of going on the record, royal press offices will give briefings and in some situations provide information to a core group of royal reporters — with the caveat that these reporters won’t say that the information came from an official spokesperson. Phrases like “this reporter understands” or “this news outlet can confirm” are very common in stories about the royal family. If you follow royal reporters on Twitter, you can always tell when one of these memos is sent, because within minutes of each other, reporters will tweet a similarly worded update or clarification. We saw this happen last week when news of [British financier and husband of royal family member Lady Gabriella] Thomas Kingston’s death was made public . Later that day, royal reporters started tweeting within minutes of each other that William’s absence from the memorial service was not related to the tragedy. (The fact that Kensington Palace wanted this information to get out has, of course, been deemed highly significant by some conspiracy theorists.)

The only method of contacting the press office that is given on the official website is a phone number that connects you to a royal family switchboard. Emailed requests for comment sent to each office’s primary email address don’t always receive responses. Even if you’ve been vetted by the Palace and added to the official press release listserv, sometimes statements will only be sent to certain news outlets — something that leaves a lot of reporters scrambling to get caught up during breaking news situations. I had an interesting back-and-forth with someone in a royal communications office on one of those days. Royal journalists in the U.K. were reporting something important, citing an official statement that hadn’t been posted online or sent out as a press release. I reached out to the royal press office for confirmation and received a response asking why I was contacting them when all of these other outlets had already reported the news. Thus I found myself writing an email explaining that journalists are supposed to independently fact-check information they don’t receive firsthand, which was a weird experience.

The big question about the saga of Kate’s “disappearance” and every royal controversy is how much control the palace press offices have over the media.

We know that the Palace has actively concealed royal news from the press and reportedly even lied to reporters about issues concerning the health of royal family members — in November 2020, we learned that William had contracted a severe case of COVID-19 in April 2020. At the time, veteran royal reporter Robert Jobson tweeted about Kensington Palace’s “appalling” decision to lie about the prince’s health, writing, “KP were asked several times by the media whether Prince William had contracted the virus and were told categorically ‘no.’”

TMZ’s recent publication of the paparazzi photo of Kate and her mother driving in Windsor has added a new dimension to the media control discussion. Kensington Palace has let it be known that the photos were unauthorized and no U.K. media outlets have run the images , even the tabloids (although most have written up the fact that U.S. media outlets have published an image of the princess). On Wednesday, veteran royal reporter Emily Andrews said on Twitter that Kensington Palace “exerted huge pressure on the British media NOT to publish the pic,” which she said was proof that the press team didn’t set up the photo opportunity.

Safe to say that the U.K. media response to the photo’s publication isn’t doing anything to dispel the “Palace controls the media” narrative that’s running rampant on social media.

Owen: Who are the reporters covering the royals? Can you tell me a little more about the tabloids?

Hall: The media ecosystem surrounding the royal family is unique. The core group of reporters covering the royal family are known as the “ royal rota ,” and they’re given access to royal events with the understanding that they’ll share whatever news they get at the event with the other media organizations. The justification for it is space and security — you can’t fit a huge press pack into a small room at a charity or food bank a senior royal happens to visit. All rota reporters are from U.K.-based outlets and, as I mentioned earlier, these reporters will sometimes get information from Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace that other journalists don’t receive (there are the official royal press release email lists and then there are WhatsApp groups).

In this case, the lack of speculative tabloid coverage about Kate’s status is one of the things that people have found suspicious about the current situation. The historically nosy news outlets haven’t theorized about what specific type of surgery she had or the circumstances that led to her medical issue being discovered. Until the TMZ photo was published , there hadn’t been any stories about or photographs of the famously close Middleton family. There’s also a distinct dearth of the fluffy, low-stakes stories about the princess that you usually see in the tabloids (like “What Kate’s doing to relax” or “How Kate’s staying a hands-on mother during her recovery”).

Owen: How does social media play into all this?

Hall: Social media has been the driving force behind this entire saga, and I cannot emphasize enough how out of character it is that a royal press team went on the record in response to what is essentially gossip.

A few years ago, I had an interesting exchange with a press officer when another royal conspiracy theory was trending online. On Feb. 22, 2022, a celebrity gossip blog called Hollywood Unlocked reported that Queen Elizabeth II had died. The post went insanely viral, and by the next day, rumors of the Queen’s death were so widespread that the whole situation in and of itself was newsworthy. I reached out for comment to Buckingham Palace and they refused to give an on-the-record response, telling me on background that they didn’t want to establish a precedent of responding to online speculation.

It’s been really interesting to watch the discussion of Kate’s “disappearance” slowly spread from the toxic hellhole that is so-called “royal internet” into mainstream pop-culture consciousness on social media, especially on Twitter/X. We’ve reached a point where people who don’t normally follow the royal family are invested in this saga.

It’s worth noting that a lot of the conversation was initially driven by pro-Harry and Meghan accounts, and many of the darker conspiracy theories (the ones described as “deeply sinister and highly libelous” by the Daily Mail) seemed to originate from those online spaces. That being said, these speculations are now part of the global conversation, although they’re fortunately balanced by conspiracy theories that are, if not lighthearted, unserious. The BBLs and Glasgow Willy Wonka photoshops , for example.

While tons of people on Twitter are clearly only following this saga for drama, gossip, and memes, over the past week, you’ve been able to observe a growing group of individuals who at least give the impression that they’re genuinely worried about Kate and want to know that she’s okay. That apparent sincerity is rare when it comes to online discussions about the royal family, and I think it’s one of the things keeping Kate in the public eye.

Owen: O.K., so talk to me about how the coverage — or non-coverage — of Kate is different from the coverage of Meghan Markle.

Hall: I don’t think you can talk about what’s currently going on with Kate without talking about Meghan’s history with the U.K. media. It’s one of the points that keeps coming up in the online discourse — the apparent hypocrisy between the Palace and the U.K. media’s treatment of each woman.

People are comparing the hands-off, privacy-first stance that the press is taking toward Kate with their attitude toward Meghan and the stories that were written about her while she was on maternity leave. I’ve seen a lot of posts remarking on how strange it is that the Palace and U.K. media suddenly care about privacy when they didn’t before now. There’s also a definite feeling among some people that Kate should have to go through this social media and press speculation, because Meghan went through it, it was worse for Meghan, and when she complained, people told her to suck it up.

Regardless of your feelings about Meghan or Kate, it’s a fact that over the past month, the Palace has gone on the record three times — first to counter an article about the Princess of Wales and then twice to comment on social media speculation about her well-being. (If you’d like to see more examples of times when the royal family press teams did or didn’t go on the record for stories about these women, I published a deep dive looking into that question at BuzzFeed News.) Meghan and Harry have both said in interviews that this was something the Palace would not do for them. We also know that the Palace “exerted huge pressure on the British media” not to publish a paparazzi photo of Kate — and so far the press has complied.

Owen: In the past, when you were reporting on the royals on a regular basis, what helped you decide whether you should report on something that was a social media rumor? Which other sources do you look at, blogs and things like that?

Hall: I had a very unique position at BuzzFeed News because I’d been there for a long time and had great editors who trusted my instincts when it came to royal stories. A pattern was established pretty early in my time at the company where I would say “I need to write this royal thing up” and the resulting story would do really well. I had a royal newsletter for my last three years in the newsroom, and that was fun because I was able to do some deeper analysis of royal news and royal media coverage and write for a dedicated audience.

I read all the stories written by royal rota reporters and the major royal reporters on the beat at other outlets. I have an almost 11 year-old Twitter list of royal reporters (and official royal social media accounts) that helps me stay updated. I also keep an eye on celebrity gossip and blind gossip websites, because you can often trace some of the wildest royal rumors and theories back to them.

Also, sometimes there’s just some great, clearly fictitious, content. One of my all-time favorites is a Blind Gossip post from July 2019 that claims Meghan freaked out because she couldn’t find avocados in the U.K. and wanted them flown in from California.

Despite its toxicity, royal social media was helpful when it came to stories because it let me get a sense of the sort of questions people were asking about royal news and what misinformation was circulating. I wrote a lot of posts that explained or debunked things that I’d seen trending on Twitter or popping up on Reddit. I also did some reporting on the royal social media networks themselves — I spent a few months going down the rabbit hole of Meghan Markle hate accounts and found evidence that the duchess’s half-sister Samantha was interacting with some of these people and spreading conspiracy theories. I ended up knocking on her door in Florida for that one. She ultimately didn’t talk to me, but it was an interesting trip. That story has actually been cited a few times (by Meghan’s lawyers) in Samantha’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against the duchess. It’s pretty wild.

Owen: What is unusual about the Kate story, besides the fact that people who don’t normally really care about the royals are talking about it?

Hall: I think a big part of this drama is that over the past few years, people have started to really distrust not just the royal family (as an institution/bureaucracy, not necessarily the individual members) but the reporters and outlets that cover the royal family.

I’m not saying this is “The Crown’s” fault, but it doesn’t help matters that for years pop culture has been dominated by a fictionalized narrative that depicts the monarchy and its employees scheming behind the scenes and manipulating the media, happily throwing certain members of the royal family under a bus in service to the overriding goal of preserving the power of the sovereign. Even without the Netflix series, a lot of people still hold a grudge against the royals because of Princess Diana and wonder about the circumstances of her death. I also feel like a lot of this distrust stems from what Harry and Meghan have said since leaving working royal life. Their descriptions of a back-stabbing, Machiavellian organization in interviews and Harry’s memoir Spare have definitely made an impact on the public’s perception of the monarchy and the royal reporting beat.

So when you have a situation like we’re currently in, if people feel that they can’t trust the institution and they can’t trust the reporters, they’re going to go on what they can see — and, as the timeline [below] shows, what they’re seeing is raising questions. The public can’t help but compare how Buckingham Palace is handling the King’s medical crisis with how Kensington Palace is handling Kate’s. People remember how Kate let herself be photographed leaving the hospital the other time she received inpatient treatment (for hyperemesis gravidarum during her first pregnancy in 2012) and how she met the world’s media dressed perfectly and wearing high heels hours after giving birth. Members of the public are also going to make judgments about what’s going on now based on how the Palace has handled similar situations in the past — and there’s a fairly recent example of the royal family press team allowing the widespread publication of paparazzi-style images of one of its off-duty members (Kate was photographed attending a memorial service for a woman killed by a police officer in 2021).

I don’t think we’d be in this position if Kensington Palace had shared something besides two official announcements and one statement to the press. There’s an information void surrounding Kate’s current status, and the royal press team has left a lot of space to speculate about what’s actually going on. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down anytime soon, either. It will be interesting to see if Kensington Palace eventually caves and gives the public something personal from Kate, be that a statement, a photo taken by her, a picture of her and her kids, something along those lines.

Owen: Why is so much coverage about Kate coming from this Spanish journalist, Concha Calleja? Who is she?

Hall: Concha Calleja is a self-described “writer [and] specialist in profiles, criminology and hunting down those who lie,” the host of the Spanish television show “Fiesta” (which has a reported audience of 900,000) and she’s been one of the most interesting bits of this entire saga. She’s the only prominent reporter (so far) to challenge Kensington Palace’s narrative about the Princess of Wales, and her reporting prompted the Waleses’ press team to take the rare step of going on the record to refute a story.

Calleja came onto the scene soon after Kensington Palace announced that Kate had been hospitalized. She first reported that Kate had actually been admitted to the hospital in December and wasn’t doing well, and then claimed that the princess had to be placed in a medically induced coma. Her credibility, at least in Spain, is such that mainstream outlets quickly picked up both reports.

Her stories might have stayed under the radar if Kensington Palace hadn’t gone on the record with the Times of London to refute the report that Kate was in a coma. Royal press teams don’t usually comment at all, let alone on specific stories, and, ironically, by releasing a statement the Palace drew even more attention to Calleja’s reporting.

In a bold move, following the publication of the Times of London story, Calleja doubled down on her reporting , stating that she trusted her source 100% and claiming that Kensington Palace was upset that she had discovered the truth.

Calleja claims to have covered the royal family for 27 years. According to her website, she has written two books about Princess Diana, one of which is an investigation into the conspiracy theory that the beloved royal was murdered. [ Ed. note: Another one of Calleja’s books suggests Michael Jackson was murdered.]

Owen: So, um…any guesses on what’s gonna happen next?

Hall: I think a lot will depend on what happens over these next few weeks before Easter. Right now, questions about what’s going on have been confined to social media, but things could change if the press starts seriously pushing Kensington Palace for more information. I was surprised to see that the cover story of this week’s People magazine (an incredibly sympathetic news outlet as far as royal reporting is concerned) is titled, “Royal Family in Turmoil as Demands Mount for More Transparency: ‘There Is Too Much Uncertainty.’”

I could definitely see a scenario where the Waleses and their press team cave in and post a personal message from Kate or a photo/video of her, but I think the chances of that happening are pretty slim. William’s spokesperson’s comment to People that “his focus is on his work and not on social media” and the belligerent tone of the Daily Beast interview with the couple’s friends indicate to me that the Prince and Princess of Wales themselves are personally very invested in keeping Kate out of the public eye and have no plans to budge on that point.

Then again, there’s always the possibility that one of these conspiracy theories could be true, and if that’s the case, God only knows.

Owen: O.K., and finally…when we were talking about ways to cover this story from a Nieman Lab angle, you thought a timeline could be a good way to do it. Why does this story benefit from a timeline?

Hall: A conspiracy theory is essentially a bunch of people looking at one series of events and drawing drastically different conclusions.

Trying to track a conspiracy theory in narrative form is difficult, because anything and everything can be assigned significance to bolster whatever story a person espouses. The key event that ties one theory together could be meaningless to another. It’s easier to explain what people find important in each detail if you go point by point.

This method also makes it easier to add context and correct misinterpretation. There are a lot of people down this rabbit hole who are unfamiliar with the way the royal family operates and that knowledge definitely changes how you view some of these points.

Timelines also help you see patterns and make informed guesses about what events prompted what actions.

Owen: With that, here’s Ellie’s timeline.

After Kate’s surgery is announced, multiple outlets will report that this Italy trip had to be rescheduled. To some, this is taken as an indication that the princess’s operation wasn’t as “planned” as Kensington Palace might want the public to think. • 2023 • 25 December Kate, William, and their children are seen participating in the royal family’s traditional walk from Sandringham to St Mary Magdalene Church. • 2023 • 28 December An anonymous Twitter account posts video of an apparent royal convoy headed to King Edward VII’s Hospital, allegedly from Sandringham.

If #WhereIsKategate has a smoking gun, it’s this video. No royal institution has commented on it and the uploader hasn’t provided follow-up details. • 2023 • 29 December The official Kensington Palace social media accounts (Twitter and Instagram) share a video montage of the Wales family’s “greatest hits” from the past year. This is the last time that an image of Kate has been shared on Kensington Palace’s official social media. • 2024 • 9 January Kate’s 42nd birthday. Kensington Palace does not make a social media post marking the occasion, neither wishing her a happy birthday nor thanking people for their good wishes.

This is not entirely out of character, as the official accounts did not make posts about her birthday or William’s birthday in 2023 — but her birthdays had been marked by posts from 2018 to 2022. (Also, new pictures of her were released on her birthday in 2020 and 2022.) • 2024 • 16 January Unbeknownst to the world, Kate is admitted to the London Clinic. • 2024 • 17 January Kensington Palace announces that Kate is in the hospital recovering from a successful “planned abdominal surgery.”

A statement from Kensington Palace pic.twitter.com/6h3BCrqj5L — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 17, 2024

Multiple outlets report that William has canceled engagements and “shifted his schedule” to help his wife and care for their children.

Later, multiple outlets and journalists report that this was the only day they were allowed to report on Kate’s health from outside the hospital.

(Following the media circus before and after the birth of Prince George in 2013, the Palace press offices have cracked down on members of the media gathering outside hospitals, so limiting the time networks can camp outside the London Clinic isn’t entirely out of the norm.) • 2024 • 17 January Buckingham Palace announces that King Charles will be hospitalized for treatment for a “benign prostate condition.” According to the statement, he wanted to share his diagnosis to encourage other men with symptoms to get checked.

This is the first of what will be many examples of Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace taking different approaches to how they handle one of their royal “principals” suffering from a medical condition. • 2024 • 18 January William is photographed driving to the London Clinic to visit Kate.

This is the only time he is seen visiting his wife. • 2024 • 20 January Spanish journalist Concha Calleja reports that, despite Kensington Palace’s claims, Kate was hospitalized on December 28. Calleja says that something went wrong during the postoperative period and claims that Kate is not doing well.

Eagle-eyed Kate truthers immediately seize upon the fact that December 28 is the day that the random Twitter user saw a royal convoy heading to a London hospital. Other royal watchers point out that the Waleses’ longtime nanny is Spanish. Calleja’s report is the first real “follow-up” story to the surgery announcement, in the sense that no media outlets have published stories reporting anything besides the official statement. You can normally count on the U.K. tabloids for some sort of wacky speculation when it comes to stories about the royal family, but not this time. • 2024 • 20 January The Sunday Times reports that Kensington Palace aides did not notify Kate’s 30 charities and patronages “to confirm postponing and rescheduling engagements” until one week before her surgery. The paper notes that Kate will be “work[ing] from bed” and “aides insist her work will not stall.”

This claim about working in bed will be brought up later as conspiracy theories start to flourish. During the pandemic, Kate regularly held Zoom calls with these institutions, and screenshots of these meetings were released to the press. Questions will be raised about why any images of Kate or updates/anecdotes from employees of the institutions haven’t leaked, if she’s been working while she recovers. • 2024 • 24 January People magazine’s royal reporter writes that Kate’s hospitalization was unexpected. “The carefully guarded news about Kate’s situation came as a surprise even to those who work closely with the royal family, PEOPLE understands.” (This is later also reported by Page Six.) People also gets an exclusive quote from an unnamed “royal source” saying that Kate’s surgery “does sound serious” but everyone’s “sure she will bounce back.”

These details are seen as more indications that Kate’s health situation was more dire than has been reported. • 2024 • 24 January U.K. tabloid the Mirror publishes a story titled “Kate ‘your best friend one minute and worst enemy the next’, expert claims.” The Mirror sources the story from what it describes as “a recent article for the Daily Mail” written by royal reporter Robert Jobson — but links to a post from 2022. The story alleges that William and Kate have “quite extreme mood swings” and claims that the two “give as good as they get” in fights with each other. Within hours, however, the story is updated and Kate’s name is replaced with Harry’s. The title of the story now live on the Mirror’s website is “ Prince Harry ‘your best friend one minute and worst enemy the next,’ expert claims .” The Mirror adds an editorial note to the bottom of the post reading, “A previous version of this story erroneously referred to Kate, Princess of Wales, instead of Prince Harry” and removes the link to the 2022 Daily Mail story — the link now redirects to the Daily Mail’s homepage.

This is just weird. It’s being seized upon by conspiracy theorists as an apparent example of the royal press offices directing a media outlet to change a story, or a media outlet trying to write a story about a possible conflict in the Waleses’ marriage. In all likelihood this was someone looking to make a story quota who messed up. • 2024 • 25 January The Sun reports that William has visited Kate in the hospital every day, but says her children have not visited (children are not allowed in the London Clinic, per hospital policy ; multiple outlets later report that William and Kate did not want to disrupt their children’s schedules and used FaceTime to stay in touch).

While royal children of the previous generation visited relatives when they were in hospitals, this is the first time we’ve known about either William and Kate needing inpatient treatment. There’s no precedent — there’s a big difference between the children visiting their mother and new sibling at a hospital and children visiting their mother after major surgery. • 2024 • 26 January The King is admitted to the London Clinic for his prostate treatment and members of the press are apparently once again allowed to gather outside the London Clinic. The Queen is photographed leaving the hospital in the afternoon, after apparently arriving with the King for his treatment (the arrival was not photographed) earlier that day. People magazine reports that the King has visited Kate. The Queen is photographed once again visiting the King in the hospital that evening. • 2024 • 27 January The Queen is photographed arriving at and leaving the hospital. • 2024 • 28 January The Queen is once again photographed visiting her husband at the London Clinic.

Whether purposeful or not, the Queen’s public arrivals and departures at the hospital make an obvious contrast to William’s apparent absence. • 2024 • 28 January Spanish journalist Concha Calleja doubles down on her report that Kate is in medical distress and claims that the princess is in a medically induced coma. Prominent Spanish media outlets begin to report her claims.

Although this story has been bubbling under the surface of the discourse about Kate’s condition, it really begins to spread now. • 2024 • 29 January Kensington Palace announces:

A statement from Kensington Palace pic.twitter.com/DW6BOHuuRJ — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 29, 2024

The Daily Mail later reports that William drove her home.

Despite the fact that members of the media were apparently set up around the hospital in order to photograph the King and Queen, her departure is not photographed. • 2024 • 29 January The King leaves the hospital. He and the Queen smile and wave for photographers outside of the London Clinic.

Thank you to all those who have sent their good wishes during The King's hospital stay. His Majesty is delighted that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness. pic.twitter.com/qbaCcwQg5a — The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 29, 2024

Once again, we have a very public contrast between the King and Kate. Obviously they both are experiencing very different issues and have very different responsibilities, but it nonetheless draws attention to the differences. • 2024 • 1 February An unnamed Kensington Palace spokesperson vehemently denies Concha Calleja’s “total nonsense” claim that Kate is in a coma to The Times. “No attempt was made by that journalist to fact-check anything that she said with anyone in the household. It’s fundamentally, totally made-up, and I’ll use polite English here: it’s absolutely not the case.”

Palace spokespeople do not go on the record very often — the fact that someone in the Palace said this and the journalist was allowed to cite it to a spokesperson is significant. For the most part, royal family press offices ignore stories that they consider to be obviously false, because commenting will lend some credibility to the claims and draw more attention to it. • 2024 • 2 February Calleja defends her reporting, claiming that she “touched a nerve” by reporting the truth and stating that she trusts her source “100%.”

The fact that this story is still being covered in the mainstream media after the Palace’s denial is interesting — most of the time, the reporters or outlets pushing these types of stories don’t have the credibility to defend themselves. • 2024 • 5 February Buckingham Palace announces that the King has been diagnosed with cancer, although the statement does not specify which kind of cancer. He will postpone “public-facing duties” but continue to “undertake State business and official paperwork.” The statement pointedly notes that he has chosen to share his diagnosis “to prevent speculation.”

The fact that Buckingham Palace uses the pointed phrase “to prevent speculation” while at the same time declining to specify the King’s cancer is a PR masterstroke. Once again, the King’s press team appears to be drawing a contrast with how Kate’s medical issue is being handled. • 2024 • 6 February The King and Queen are photographed leaving Clarence House in London. • 2024 • 7 February Kate’s brother James shares a video of his family on vacation in the Alps.

This is where one of the weirder side-conspiracies begins. Kate’s family is very close and they’re not very camera-shy. While James’s holiday post is a good indication that Kate is not at death’s door, people begin to realize that Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, haven’t been seen since Kensington Palace announced her surgery. • 2024 • 7 February William participates in his first royal event since Kate’s diagnosis was made public — an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. He presents medals on behalf of his father to a number of individuals.

Every aspect of William’s appearance at the investiture has been broken down and examined by online sleuths. One video showing the prince weaving back and forth on his feet has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media. There is speculation that he is unwell or under the influence of something. • 2024 • 7 February William references his wife’s and father’s health in a speech at a formal event. “I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days,” he said. “It means a great deal to us all.” • 2024 • 9 February The Daily Mail reports that Kate has left Windsor for her children’s half-term holiday and the entire family has relocated to Anmer Hall, at Sandringham. Kate is apparently “recovering well.” The Sun and Sunday Times later confirm the Daily Mail’s reporting of the family trip to Anmer Hall.

It’s hard to draw a concrete conclusion about the fact that the Waleses’ trip to Sandringham wasn’t photographed. There have been many photographs taken of either William or Kate driving onto and out of the grounds of Windsor park in the past, but it’s definitely not a situation where they’re snapped every day. Furthermore, the Wales children are strictly off-limits when it comes to photographs and they were likely with their parents on the drive. • 2024 • 10 February Buckingham Palace publishes a personal message from the King expressing his “heartfelt thanks” for the messages of support he has received since announcing his diagnosis.

Again, the King’s message calls to attention the fact that Kate has not released a similar personal message and has only expressed her thanks through official statements. • 2024 • 11 February The King and Queen are photographed attending church at St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham. • 2024 • 13 February The King and Queen are photographed arriving at Clarence House in London. • 2024 • 17 February The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden reports that William and Kate have visited a school that they are considering for their oldest son Prince George. He later clarifies on Twitter that the visit happened before Kate’s surgery.

Many people online have raised questions about the timing of this piece, because it was published in a way that indicated it could have been a recent visit (and therefore could have been taken as “proof” that Kate was up and about). • 2024 • 18 February The King and Queen are photographed attending church at St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham. • 2024 • 18 February William attends the British Academy Film Awards. • 2024 • 19 February Term begins again at Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis’s school.

This fact is only noted to indicate that the Waleses have likely returned to Adelaide Cottage by this point. • 2024 • 20 February William issues a personal statement about the crisis in Gaza via social media.

A statement from The Prince of Wales pic.twitter.com/LV2jMx75DC — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) February 20, 2024

Despite claims from internet sleuths, this is not the first time that one of the Waleses have issued a solo (instead of joint) statement. Kate and William regularly write messages on their own letterhead, and the fact that this statement was just from William should not be taken as a sign of marital trouble in Kensington Palace. • 2024 • 21 February The King meets with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace. Photos and videos are released to the media. • 2024 • 21 February Kate’s sister Pippa is photographed with her husband and children on vacation in the Caribbean.

While Pippa’s vacation pictures are a good sign that Kate’s not in serious condition, an update from Kate’s sister calls attention to the fact that the Middleton parents haven’t been seen. • 2024 • 23 February Buckingham Palace shares a video of the King reading cards that have been sent to him by concerned members of the public.

This video immediately prompts questions about why Kate hasn’t done something similar. “Monarchs reading cards” is a tried-and-true format for official royal photos. • 2024 • 27 February At the last minute, William pulls out of attending a memorial service at Windsor for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece, where he was scheduled to give a reading. Kensington Palace says his absence is due to “a personal matter.”

This is where the underground conspiracy theories hit the mainstream internet and media. Chaos ensues. Memes ensue. Although the Palace provides guidance that the cause of William’s absence has nothing to do with his wife, this claim is met with great skepticism. • 2024 • 27 February Buckingham Palace announces the death of Thomas Kingston, a member of the extended royal family. Kingston was married to Lady Gabriella Kingston, the daughter of Prince Michael of Kent, the late Queen’s first cousin. Multiple media outlets report that William’s withdrawal from the memorial service was not connected to Kingston’s death.

The fact that Kensington Palace let it be known that William’s absence from the memorial was not connected to Kingston’s death is seized upon by conspiracy theorists, as is the fact that Kingston once dated Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton. • 2024 • 28 February A Kensington Palace spokesperson addresses the “wild conspiracy theories” about Kate in a statement to the Sun: “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.” • 2024 • 29 February Kensington Palace spokespersons give similar statements to other media outlets. Page Six quotes a spokesperson as saying, “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates” and emphasizing, “That guidance stands.” • 2024 • 29 February Kensington Palace spokespersons give similar statements to other media outlets. ET quotes a spokesperson as saying, “We gave guidance two days ago that the Princess of Wales continues to be doing well. As we have been clear since our initial statement in January, we shall not be providing a running commentary or providing daily updates.”

It is incredibly rare for a royal press office to officially respond to something like this, let alone respond on the record with quotations attributable to a Kensington Palace spokesperson. This is not standard royal practice. • 2024 • 29 February Daily Beast royal reporter Tom Sykes interviews unnamed Wales friends and a former Palace employee about the global outcry around Kate’s “disappearance.” These anonymous contributors scoff at the idea that public curiosity will force the royal family’s hand. “If William has read any of this stuff, it will only make him more determined to stick to his guns and keep his wife out of the limelight while she recovers. The stuff people are writing is toxic,” one says.

“Friends” of members of the royal family don’t normally talk to reporters unless they’re given permission by somebody (or they wouldn’t stay friends). • 2024 • 29 February William visits a London synagogue, meets a Holocaust survivor, and condemns the wave of anti-semitism that has broken out in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks. “Both Catherine and I are extremely concerned about the rise in antisemitism that you guys have talked about so eloquently this morning, and I’m just so sorry you’ve had to experience that,” he says . • 2024 • 1 March William ignores a question about his wife’s health during an official event in Wales. (This news is not reported until March 4). • 2024 • 1 March An inquest reveals that Thomas Kingston’s cause of death was a “catastrophic head injury” and that a gun was found near his body. Multiple outlets report the death as a suicide.

This news being made public only increases speculation by some conspiracy theorists. • 2024 • 2 March Citing a Buckingham Palace source, the Times of London reports that the Queen will be taking a break from royal duties until March 11. The Sun reports that she will be “jetting off on a private flight tomorrow for a sunshine break overseas.” • 2024 • 4 March U.S. news outlet TMZ publishes a paparazzi image of Kate and her mother, Carole Middleton, in a car near Windsor Castle. The website reports that the image, which shows Kate in the passenger seat and her mother driving, was taken that morning, possibly after dropping the Wales children off at school. (The Daily Mail later reports that the photo was taken on the school run.) Several other U.S. media organizations publish the pictures.

The publication of this image only strengthens conspiracy theories about Kate’s health, as many do not believe that it’s actually her in the picture. • 2024 • 4 March Multiple U.K. news outlets report that Kensington Palace did not “authorize” the taking of the paparazzi image and state that they will not be publishing it in order to respect Kate’s privacy.

Two days later, royal reporter Emily Andrews writes on Twitter that Kensington Palace “exerted huge pressure on the British media” to not publish the image. Nonetheless, theories about why no U.K. outlet will publish the photo flourish online. People also point to the use of the word “authorize” — does that mean that other paparazzi photographs of members of the royal family were authorized? • 2024 • 5 March Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith, a contestant on reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother , attacks the conspiracy theories about his niece in an interview. “There’s a reason why [the royal family] is not talking about it and they are giving her a little bit of space,” he says . • 2024 • 5 March The media notices that the U.K. Ministry of Defense’s website states that Kate will attend the ceremonial event Trooping the Colour on June 8. This news is quickly picked up by outlets around the world and reported as Kate’s first post-surgery public appearance. • 2024 • 5 March Kensington Palace pushes back on reports that Kate will attend Trooping the Colour, telling reporters that they had not yet confirmed her appearance. The U.K. Ministry of Defense removes its claim that Kate will be at the event and her image from their website. • 2024 • 6 March The King holds a video meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and formally greets two foreign ambassadors at Buckingham Palace. • 2024 • 6 March William’s spokesperson tells People magazine that “his focus is on his work and not on social media.” This story also quotes a “Palace insider” saying that there is complete “radio silence” on Kate’s condition.

The fact that this very pointed quote is sourced not to a “Palace insider” or “royal aide” but to William’s spokesperson is significant. • 2024 • 7 March Hello! reports that William has been taking his children George, Charlotte, and Louis to school (and picking them up) “every day” since Kate’s surgery. No spokesperson is cited, the magazine sources this information as “Hello! has learnt.” This report is picked up by other U.K. news outlets .

People online immediately comment on the timing of this story, which comes three days after the paparazzi image of Kate and her mother was published by TMZ. That photo was allegedly taken after the women dropped the Wales children off at school — so why now is there this story about William exclusively doing the school runs? • 2024 • 7 March Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith comments on the princesses’ health again when asked point-blank by fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, “Where’s Kate?” Goldsmith responds , “Because she doesn’t want to talk about it, the last thing I’m going to do is [talk about it]. There’s this kind of this code of etiquette. If it’s announced, I’ll give you an opinion.” Goldsmith claims that he has spoken to his sister Carole about Kate’s health and says that she’s getting the “best care in the world” and “She’ll be back, of course she will.”

“All the family has put the wagons down and [are looking] after the family first before anything else,” he said. “They put a statement out, they said, ‘She’s going to take some time to recoup and we’ll see you at Easter.’”

Goldsmith’s apparent uneasiness while answering the question, as well as his cryptic statement, “If it’s announced, I’ll give you an opinion,” raises even more questions. • 2024 • 10 March Kensington Palace shares an image of Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis to their official social media accounts to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K. The Instagram and Twitter posts include a personal message from the Princess of Wales (signed with a “C” for Catherine) thanking the public for their support. The photo was ostensibly taken by William at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor within the past week. Kensington Palace declines to comment when asked by Town and Country why Kate is not wearing her engagement or wedding rings in the photo.

Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C 📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024

People online begin to raise questions within minutes of the photo’s release. There is a visible discrepancy and apparent editing error visible in the area around Charlotte’s left sleeve , and other online sleuths notice alignment issues with Louis’s sweater . More and more people begin to call out signs of apparent poor Photoshop editing. • 2024 • 10 March The world’s major wire agencies ( Associated Press , Agence France-Presse , Getty , Reuters , and Britain’s Press Association ) alert their clients that the image provided by Kensington Palace should be withheld/withdrawn from publication because the photo has been manipulated beyond each company’s acceptable standards. (Nieman Lab has more on this here .) The Palace declines to comment to all media inquiries, multiple news organizations report.

To say that all hell breaks loose at this point would be an understatement. As ITV royal reporter Chris Ship points out , the photo that was supposed to resolve the confusion and clear up the conspiracy theories has instead made everything worse. People begin theorizing that the image was created by AI or patched together via Photoshop — worries about Kate’s health and current status abound on social media. • 2024 • 11 March Major UK media outlets publish stories breaking down the apparent Photoshop errors in the image released by Kensington Palace. Sky News examines the photo’s metadata and reports that the image “had been saved in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac.” The photo was first saved at 9:54 PM GMT on Friday night and then saved again at 9:39 AM GMT on Saturday morning. The metadata confirms that the photo was taken at the Waleses’ home, Adelaide Cottage. The Times reports that William took the photo on Friday afternoon. (The Daily Mail later confirms this photo origin date.)

The Telegraph reports that “A reference to ‘document ancestors’ in the photograph’s metadata suggests a copy and paste function was used and that multiple images were merged.” The paper adds that “a clear horizontal line stretching across the princess’s chest appears to indicate that the section of the image featuring her face was cut out and replaced, not exactly in line.” • 2024 • 11 March Kensington Palace releases a personal tweet from Kate (signed with a “C”) saying she “occasionally experiment[s] with editing” and apologizing for “any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.” (She does not explicitly say that she edited this photo.)

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 Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

Despite prompting from many media outlets, the Palace makes it known (via a statement to the Press Association) that the Waleses’ press team will not be releasing the original image of the princess and her children.

By this point, the “Kate Middleton is missing” discourse has taken over the internet. People begin theorizing that the image was actually taken in November or Photoshopped using Kate’s 2016 Vogue magazine cover. Online debate rages about why the Palace is “throwing Kate under the bus” and why the press team will not release the original image. • 2024 • 11 March Photographers capture images of William and Kate leaving Windsor. However, the princess is not facing the cameras — only her profile can be seen. An unnamed source tells the Daily Mail and People magazine that Kate is heading to a “private appointment,” while William is heading to a Commonwealth’s Day service at Westminster Abbey.

Once again, this development has only raised more questions about the Princess of Wales. Why is Kate not facing the cameras? • 2024 • 11 March William, the Queen, and other members of the royal family attend the annual Commonwealth’s Day service at Westminster Abbey. The King does not attend, but a video message from him is played to the congregation. • 2024 • 11 March CNN says that it is reviewing all of the handout images previously provided by Kensington Palace, explaining that the royal press team ​​”wasn’t transparent about the fact [the Mother’s Day photo] had been adjusted,” an action that “damaged the trust between the Palace and media organizations.” CNN specifies that it is “unacceptable to move, change or manipulate the pixels of an image” because doing so “would alter the reality of the situation the image is intended to document.” This news is widely reported in the U.K. • 2024 • 11 March William attends the Earthshot Prize Launchpad to kick off a matchmaking program that connects environmental innovators with investors and philanthropists. The prince founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to “search for and scale the most innovative solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges.” • 2024 • 12 March The Daily Mail, citing “several well-placed sources in royal ­circles,” reports that Kate is “shellshocked” due to the “public fallout” over the Mother’s Day photo. “She is understood to be ‘disappointed’ about what has resulted after an attempt to ‘just put out a nice picture of her kids,’” writes royal correspondent Rebecca English. The Times reports that Kate was “shaken” by the news agency “kill orders” and decided to “own up” to editing the photo when news of the retractions and the subsequent internet explosion hit Kensington Palace. • 2024 • 12 March New conspiracy theories rage about the photo of William and Kate in the car. Some TikTok and Twitter investigators hypothesize that the prince was alone in the vehicle and a picture of the princess’s head was Photoshopped next to him to make it look as if Kate was there. Others theorize that there was a woman in the car next to William, but it wasn’t his wife — it was Rose Hanbury, otherwise known as the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (pronounced CHUM-lee). Since 2019, there have been (very unsubstantiated) rumors of an affair between William and Rose and many online conspiracy theorists believe that she is a key figure in this entire saga. • 2024 • 12 March The professional photographer, James Bennett, who took the picture of William and Kate in the car refutes all of the conspiracy theories about the image in an interview with the New York Post: “We don’t change our photos in Photoshop other than adjusting the light levels if necessary.”

He tells the paper that he and a partner staked out a spot on a public street to capture an image of William on his way to Westminster Abbey. “The cars left Windsor Castle and I photographed them a short distance away on Datchet High Street — outside No. 39, to be precise!” he said. “Car shots are unpredictable at the best of times and with some reflection on the glass, it can be difficult.” Bennett says he didn’t know that he’d photographed the princess until he reviewed his pictures. “I realized there was someone sitting next to him. It turned out to be Catherine!”

Of course, the fact that the Sun’s story was published without images from the supposed Windsor Farm Shop sighting was immediately seized upon by the internet hordes. #WhereIsKate truthers accused the tabloid of making the story up, since it neither named sources nor supplied photographs. The masses were not convinced.

Note: The story link goes to an archived version of the piece (so it’s a link to the post as it was originally published). • 2024 • 17 March As the honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards, Kate normally attends the regiment’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Since she was forced to miss the event this year, she gives the regimental bar £2,000 (USD $2,500) so that the men can enjoy some drinks in her absence. • 2024 • 17 March Forbes publishes a story with the headline “ Claims about BBC being on-alert for Kate Middleton news remain unconfirmed .” Let me explain. Approximately 24 hours before this point, a rumor appears out of nowhere and begins to go viral on social media. The dubious claim is that the BBC is on standby for an unspecified “royal announcement” from Buckingham Palace. It’s unclear what exactly triggered the speculation. The rumor seems to have started on Twitter , but it quickly makes its way to every social media platform and is soon so widespread that media outlets start investigating . A perfect example of how little effort is needed to launch a misinformation campaign.

Note: Although there would eventually be an announcement from the Palace (and media outlets would be notified in advance that said announcement was coming), at this point Kate hadn’t even filmed her video yet. This was 100% a social media hoax. • 2024 • 18 March Speaking of hoaxes! Certain Russian media outlets begin to report that the King has died, after doctored statements appearing to be from Buckingham Palace start circulating on social media and in a number of popular Telegram channels. The “news” quickly spreads across Russian-speaking countries. Eventually, an actual royal spokesperson tells Russian news agency Tass, “We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business.” • 2024 • 18 March U.S. website TMZ and U.K. tabloid The Sun simultaneously publish stories featuring a cell phone video of William and Kate walking out of the Windsor Farm Shop — the first video footage the world has seen of Kate since Christmas Day. Both outlets report that the clip was shot by someone named Nelson Silva, a man who happened to be in the parking lot as the Waleses walked by his car. Independent journalist Dan Wootton (formerly of the Sun, the Daily Mail, and GB News) reports that the Sun paid £200,000 for the rights to the video of Kate and William, beating the Mail’s bid of £140,000. “These are the sorts of royal photo deals not seen since the days of Diana,” he tweets .

#KateMiddleton seemed to be in good spirits while out and about with #PrinceWilliam Saturday. https://t.co/kLUsfvt3b2 (: TMZ/The Sun) pic.twitter.com/EqbtVojBcw — TMZ (@TMZ) March 18, 2024

As soon as the video hits the internet, people begin to cross-examine it frame by frame to check its authenticity. Although many accept it as legitimate footage of Kate, a number of people do not. Theories that the woman identified as Kate is actually a body double/doppelganger who had been hired as a decoy start circulating.

People also begin to raise questions about why the royal family had not stopped the British press from publishing these paparazzi-style images, the way they stopped the publication of the picture of Kate and her mother in the car. Days later, the Sun’s top editor will reveal that the Palace approved the publication of the footage. In a television interview on March 24, Sun editor Victoria Newton says , “I was in discussions with the Palace all along with [the footage] and there was no problem with us running those images.” • 2024 • 19 March Heidi Agan, a professional “Kate Middleton impersonator” denies being the woman in the Windsor Farm Shop video, telling the Mirror that she “100 percent” believes it was the actual William and Kate in the footage. Online Kate truthers had identified Agan as a possible stand-in for the princess and theories about her possible involvement were all over Twitter and TikTok. “There has obviously been some speculation about whether it was Kate and William in that footage and stills,” she said. “In fact, my own social media has gone crazy as people think it is me, but I know it is not. I was at work at the time so I know that is not me.” • 2024 • 19 March William travels to Sheffield (a city approximately 170 miles north of London) and visits a number of organizations working to end homelessness while providing support for unhoused people. In a meeting at one of these locations, someone mentions early childhood development (a cause about which Kate is passionate) and the prince says, “We’re venturing into my wife’s territory. She needs to be sat here to hear this.” • 2024 • 19 March The Getty photo agency announces that it has found evidence of photo manipulation in another handout image that had been provided to the press by Kensington Palace. The picture is one that was taken by Kate and released in 2023 to mark what would have been the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 97th birthday. It shows her surrounded by her youngest grandchildren (James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise Windsor) and eight of her great-grandchildren. The image is flagged as “digitally enhanced by source” and an editorial warning is added to it in the system. “Getty Images is undertaking a review of handout images and in accordance with its editorial policy is placing an editor’s note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced,” the agency says in a statement.

Today would have been Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 97th birthday. This photograph – showing her with some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren – was taken at Balmoral last summer. The Princess pic.twitter.com/1FOU4Ne5DX — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 21, 2023

Note: It’s not a coincidence that Kate shares her cancer diagnosis with the world on the evening of her children’s last day of school before a three-and-a-half-week vacation. Although she and William have already told their children, they want George, Charlotte, and Louis to have time and space to process the news being made public. (And prevent them from being bombarded with questions from schoolmates and teachers in the immediate fallout.) • 2024 • 22 March Kensington Palace alerts the media that a major royal announcement will be made at 6:00 p.m. GMT / 2:00 p.m. EDT. Certain major news outlets are given the information in advance “under embargo” so that they can prepare coverage — as long as they promise not to break the news until the agreed-upon time. When that time arrives, the Palace’s official social media accounts post a two-minute (and twenty second) video of Kate, in which she shares the news that she has been diagnosed with cancer. Kate says that she is “in the early stages” of “preventive chemotherapy.”

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Buckingham Palace chimes in, releasing a statement saying that the King is “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did” and telling the press that “following their time in hospital together,” the monarch has been in “closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks.” (The Sun later reports that Kate and the King had an “emotional” private lunch at Windsor Castle hours before the video was released.)

Harry and Meghan release a short statement in response to the news: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.” (The Sunday Times later reports that the Sussexes learned of their sister-in-law’s cancer diagnosis at the same time as the rest of the world, via television.) James Middleton, Kate’s younger brother, posts an old photo of himself and his sister on Instagram, with the caption, “Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too ⛰️❤️” • 2024 • 23 March William, Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis are seen (but not photographed) leaving Adelaide Cottage via helicopter en route to Anmer Hall, where the family will spend the children’s Easter holidays. • 2024 • 23 March Kensington Palace releases a statement to the press: “The Prince and Princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message. They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”

Ellie Hall is a freelance reporter. She was senior reporter and official royal correspondent for BuzzFeed News from 2013 until the newsroom shut down in April 2023.

Photo of Kensington Palace by Kotomi_ being used under a Creative Commons license.

Cite this article Hide citations

Hall, Ellie. "It’s getting weirder: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media (updated)." Nieman Journalism Lab . Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 7 Mar. 2024. Web. 18 May. 2024.

Hall, E. (2024, Mar. 7). It’s getting weirder: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media (updated). Nieman Journalism Lab . Retrieved May 18, 2024, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/03/this-is-just-weird-buzzfeed-news-former-royals-reporter-on-kate-middleton-palace-press-and-distrust-in-the-media/

Hall, Ellie. "It’s getting weirder: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media (updated)." Nieman Journalism Lab . Last modified March 7, 2024. Accessed May 18, 2024. https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/03/this-is-just-weird-buzzfeed-news-former-royals-reporter-on-kate-middleton-palace-press-and-distrust-in-the-media/.

{{cite web     | url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/03/this-is-just-weird-buzzfeed-news-former-royals-reporter-on-kate-middleton-palace-press-and-distrust-in-the-media/     | title = It’s getting weirder: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media (updated)     | last = Hall     | first = Ellie     | work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]     | date = 7 March 2024     | accessdate = 18 May 2024     | ref = {{harvid|Hall|2024}} }}

To promote and elevate the standards of journalism

Covering thought leadership in journalism

Pushing to the future of journalism

Exploring the art and craft of story

The Nieman Journalism Lab is a collaborative attempt to figure out how quality journalism can survive and thrive in the Internet age.

It’s a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University .

• Subscribe to our email
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook
• Download our iPhone app
• Subscribe via RSS
• Tweet archive

Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan visit school children as part of first trip to Nigeria

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are starting off their first trip to Nigeria with a lively fun visit to a school.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday during the visit as part of celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games .

Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, met with students and faculty, took part in activities and watched performances upon their arrival.

Harry and Meghan's other plans for their weekend Nigeria trip include meeting with the country's chief of defense staff and attending a reception in honor of military families. Harry is set to meet with injured service members at a military hospital as well.

The duchess is also set to co-host an event for women in leadership, and both will attend a polo fundraiser for the charity Nigeria: Unconquered.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Harry is just coming off a trip to his hometown of London for its own Invictus Games celebration, after first bringing the games to the city in 2014.

To mark the milestone, he attended a panel discussion with the organization on Tuesday and on Wednesday, he attended a celebration at St Paul's Cathedral along with veterans involved in the various Invictus Games sports.

Harry notably did not meet with his father, King Charles III , during the trip back to his home country. A spokesperson for Harry said a reunion amid Charles' cancer diagnosis "unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty's full" schedule. They did have a private reunion in February after the palace confirmed the king was diagnosed with an undisclosed "form of cancer."

"I spoke to him. And I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could," the Duke of Sussex said on " Good Morning America " in a segment about the moment he learned about his father's health.

He continued, "I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane, go and see him, and spend any time with him – I'm grateful for that. … I've got other trips planned that will take me through the U.K., or back to the U.K., and so I'll stop in and see my family as much as I can."

Contributing: Naledi Ushe

Watch CBS News

Harry and Meghan wrap up a very royal looking tour of Nigeria

By Holly Williams

May 13, 2024 / 11:10 AM EDT / CBS News

London — Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wrapped up a three-day tour of Nigeria on Sunday that saw the U.S.-based couple use their celebrity to highlight some of the causes they care most about.

Harry played a game of sitting volleyball with disabled athletes — all of them Nigerian army veterans. 

Nigeria has expressed interest in hosting the Invictus Games, the charity sporting event for wounded soldiers founded a decade ago by the duke.

Meghan co-hosted a women's leadership event where she referenced her Nigerian ancestry for the second time during the trip.  

"Thank you very much for how graciously you've all been welcoming my husband and I to this country," she said, pausing before adding, "my country." 

The simple two words were met with cheering and applause.

Predictably, given the couple's longstanding enmity with the U.K.'s tabloid media, some British newspapers pointed out that Harry and Meghan's visit to Nigeria looked very much like a royal tour - including the duke's inspection of a Nigerian military guard of honor — despite them having left behind their roles as "working royals ."

At one point Harry stood to attention for his country's national anthem, God Save the King, just days after the couple's press team said King Charles III couldn't carve out time to meet his youngest son during Harry's visit to London earlier this month.

The Nigeria trip seemed to be a success for the Sussexes, at least for the people Harry and Meghan came to visit. Nigerians welcomed them with open arms. 

"On camera they are good, but in person, holy moly!" said Malaika Gyang-gyang, a student at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, which the duke and duchess visited as soon as they arrived on Friday.

• British Royal Family
• Prince Harry Duke of Sussex
• Meghan Duchess of Sussex

Holly Williams is a CBS News senior foreign correspondent based in the network's CBS London bureau. Williams joined CBS News in July 2012, and has more than 25 years of experience covering major news events and international conflicts across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

More from CBS News

3 Spanish tourists killed, multiple injured during attack in Afghanistan

Whoopi Goldberg reflects on family, career in new memoir "Bits and Pieces"

Revolutionary War barracks, chewed-on ammunition unearthed in Virginia

How to watch Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins Game 6