As an actual princess and one of the more popular members of the British royal family, Kate Middleton is probably used to being a topic of conversation. From her fashion to her parenting to how she’s dealt with rumors of William’s infidelity, people have loved to talk about her ever since she and Prince William started dating in 2001.
But the current state of Kate Middleton gossip has been on a whole other level in 2024, thanks to the secrecy surrounding her January abdominal surgery and her subsequent disappearance from the public eye. Although most people just hoped she was fine, a truly wild number of conspiracy theories were floating around about what was actually going on with Kate. From plastic surgery to body doubles to a brewing divorce, the speculation heat up quickly. It all ultimately came to a head in mid-March, after a few apparent missteps by the royal family’s PR team, and ultimately, Kate ended up issuing a public statement on Instagram, revealing that she has cancer. Along with many others, we’re devastated by the news and are hoping for all the best for Kate and her family.
And, we’re betting some people who spread the worst rumors about her are feeling pretty awful right now, but some of those theories were actually reasonable possibilities. Read on to find out what the most royal-obsessed people on the internet thought was happening with Kate.
More from CafeMom: 20 Times Kate Middleton Looked Totally Over Her Royal Life
Coma Kate
Back in February 2024, a popular Spanish news program reported that Kate had been put into a medically induced coma following complications from her still-undisclosed surgery. According to People magazine, royal sources claimed this was “total nonsense” and that Kate was never in a coma. Some folks speculated Kate was still in a coma shortly before her cancer announcement, explaining why she hadn’t released any videos or done an interview.
Kate's New Booty
One of the sillier conspiracy theories is that the famously thin (sometimes maybe even worryingly too thin?) Kate has been out of the public eye because she’s recovering from a Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, surgery.
Kate's Body Double
When video emerged that claimed to show Kate and William out shopping at a farm store, many people just straight up didn’t believe it was actually the royal duo. Internet sleuths pointed to the fact that the heights of the two people in the video seemed off and that it just didn’t look exactly like the Kate we remember.
William's Got a Secret Baby
There have been royal rumors for YEARS that William cheated on Kate with Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. Even Steven Colbert cracked jokes about it on a recent episode of his show, and noted that people now suspect William might have fathered one of Rose’s children. The Kate conspiracy angle was that she found out about the love child and planned to be out of the public eye until the couple announced they are separating.
Sadly, this one is easier to believe than the BBL.
Kate's Got a New Face
When the first reported image of Kate after her surgery came out, people thought something looked different about her. Even though the photo in the car with her mother wasn’t the highest-quality image, there were who speculated that she’d had a facelift and was staying out of the public eye while her bruises healed.
Given that she’s only in her early 40s and that she’s aging very well compared to her husband (just saying … remember when William was the hot one? Those days are long gone, just like his hairline), we doubt she’s already had a full face lift.
Surgery Emergency
Even though the official word has always been that Kate’s surgery was planned, there was a conspiracy theory that her hospitalization actually happened earlier than the public knew and was related to some kind of emergency. The evidence for this was that there were reports of an ambulance and police going to where Kate and William were celebrating Christmas and that someone was taken via ambulance from the home.
Kate the Traitor?
OK, we’re not going to lie. This was our favorite. There is literally no way it is true but we’re here for Kate to win it all as a traitor in the castle on either the UK or US version of The Traitor (which is SUCH a fun watch, even without Kate’s involvement). This would have been so much easier to handle than what is actually going on.
The 'Weekend at Bernie's' Theory
Although John Oliver was clearly joking when he suggested that there was a “non-zero” chance that Kate Middleton died “18 months ago,” there are some conspiracy theorists who thought Kate actually died and that a body double has been deployed to cover it up.
Considering that she’s now battling cancer, this theory seems even more insensitive and offensive now than it did before.
King Charles Is Dead?
After Russian media reported that King Charles was dead, Buckingham Palace was forced to deny the story, but some people immediately started a new conspiracy theory that all this debate about where Kate was at was designed to cover up the fact that Charles is more sick than previously disclosed or even dead. Some of these get a little too grim, really.
Eating Disorder Talk Heats Up
Kate’s weight has long been a topic of conversation (the special joy of being a famous woman) with some people suggesting in the past that her extreme thinness is a result of an eating disorder. One of the conspiracy theories is that Kate was actually in eating disorder treatment, not dealing with a surgical recovery.
Kate Middleton: Kidney Donor?
Another King Charles-related conspiracy theory is that Kate has been recovering out of the public eye because she donated a kidney to her father-in-law, who is suffering from an unknown kind of cancer.
Is William to Blame?
There have been whispers for years about Prince William having a bad temper, and those rumors were confirmed when Harry shared a story in his memoir Spare about William getting physical with him in a fit of rage. Some people are wondered if Kate’s disappearance from the public eye was related to William’s temper or even spousal abuse. That’s no joking matter, even as memes get made about it.
More from CafeMom: Prince William Reportedly Has So Many Tantrums That Kate Treats Him Like Her ‘4th Child’
Growing Pains
Anyone who has ever regretted the decision to get bangs might find this funny conspiracy theory credible: Kate was hiding out of sight to wait for her bangs to grow out. It would have been absolutely hilarious if this theory had turned out to be true.
A Risky Pregnancy
When Kate’s January surgery was announced, people were struck by the vagueness of the description of “abdominal surgery.” Some folks thought this was a sign Kate was pregnant and either needed surgery for the fetus or that something went wrong, such as an ectopic pregnancy.
Somehow This Is All Meghan's Fault
The vicious anti-Meghan and Harry crowd would have loved to somehow blame all of this on the happy couple who are living their best life in California. The latest way to somehow make Meghan the bad guy for everything was to claim that Kate was so stressed out by her brother-in-law and his gorgeous wife that she’d gone into hiding. It’s kind of amazing how just existing can make some people hate Meghan.
