Kate Middleton’s whereabouts, explained

In a recorded video message shared by Kensington Palace, the Princess of Wales revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The statement came after months of global speculation of where exactly she had been.

Kate was last seen in public on Christmas 2023. Then on January 17, Kensington Palace announced she’d be undergoing abdominal surgery and mentioned that she’d be “unlikely” to resume her public duties until Easter. Her absence from the public eye seemed out of character, especially with her longstanding role as a stalwart for the British royal family. Very quickly, concerns that her planned procedure had gone wrong turned into viral joke theories and conspiracies about her whereabouts. Then, in March, a poorly edited Mother’s Day photo circulated by Kensington Palace — and a subsequent “photo kill” from the Associated Press — turned the whole affair into an international news story.

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