Fending Off Intense Social Media Speculation, Palace Says Princess Kate ‘Still Doing Well’

A spokesman for the Royal family has made a brief statement on the health of Princess Kate, the future Queen, amid widespread online speculation on her health, a report states.

Following a week of intense social media commentary on the extended break from public appearances made by Kate, the Princess of Wales since she was admitted to hospital in January for abdominal surgery, a Royal spokesman has made the rare step of restating their previously expressed position.

A Royal spokesman cited by The Daily Telegraph said, per the report, that “nothing has changed” and stated: “We always said that the Princess of Wales would be out until Easter, and we are not making any further comments… The Princess of Wales is still doing well”.

The Princess has not been seen in public since Christmas, and the exact nature of her surgery has never been revealed.

The tersely worded statement refers back to the original comment by the Palace in January when it was first stated that Catherine had been admitted to hospital for “planned abdominal surgery”. The statement then made clear that no further “personal medical information” would be shared, and that she would not return to duties until after Easter, even now still a month away.

It was subsequently announced in late January that the Princess had been discharged from hospital and would continue to convalesce at home. While her husband, the future King, had taken some time off his duties to help care for her and their three children, he has since returned to the public eye, perhaps suggesting an improving health picture at home.

At the time of her discharge from hospital, it was said that Catherine is “making good progress” and has expressed her gratitude for the well wishes she’d received from around the world.

The spokesman’s statement follows a week of intense speculation on Princess Kate’s health, given her two months out of the public eye on social media, with theories ranging from good-natured and humorous to conspiracy. These theories reached a new level of intensity this week after Kate’s husband, the Prince of Wales, missed a Royal engagement due to “personal reasons”.

Princess Catherine was discharged on the same day, and from the same hospital, as King Charles, who had undergone a procedure for an enlarged prostate. While the Palace reassured them that it was non-cancerous and benign, it was subsequently revealed that tests undertaken while the King was in hospital revealed he did have cancer in his body, and he had been receiving regular treatment since.

While the King has been seen in public several times since that news, apparently in good humour, he is not undertaking public duties until his treatment is completed satisfactorily.