All of Kate Middleton's Reported Sightings Since Her Surgery, So Far

On January 17, 2024, Kensington Palace addressed slow growing questions over the whereabouts of the Princess of Wales and why she hadn't started her diary of public engagements after last being photographed on Christmas Day.

The royal, they announced, had undergone "planned abdominal surgery" which, though successful, would necessitate her absence from public life until "after Easter" while she took time to recover.

Despite the press being camped outside The London Clinic where Kate's surgery took place, no photos of the princess leaving the facility for her home in Windsor were published, nor were any offered by the palace at that time.

As weeks passed with few updates on Kate's health beyond telling the public that the princess was "making good progress" and "doing well," increasing conspiracy theories and speculation mounted in the absence of any photographic evidence that the royal was ok.

Seventy days after Kate's last public appearance on Christmas Day, a gossip site published the image the world was waiting for, though this did little to assuage public interest and debate around her health and circumstances.

Additional sightings, and one highly controversial portrait later, this debate still rages.

Here, Newsweek looks at all of Kate Middleton's reported sightings since her surgery on January 16 and what they tell us.

Windsor Drive

On Monday, March 4, 70 days after Kate's last public appearance alongside senior royals at the annual Christmas Day church service at Sandringham, the public got their first new photo of the princess, albeit through unofficial means.

Gossip site TMZ published a photo of Kate sat in the front seat of a car wearing dark sunglasses being driven by her mother, Carole Middleton. The reported timing of the photo suggested that it was taken after the royal had taken her children to school.

The image was quickly shared online, however, it was not published by the British media over privacy concerns. Kate was not photographed on her way to, or with someone who was on their way to, an official engagement, therefore a lawyer told Newsweek at the time that she had a "reasonable expectation of privacy."

The image was criticized online as it was in low resolution, doing little to quash conspiracy theories which had some social media users asking if the princess was "missing."

Kensington Palace did not officially comment on the photo or its publication.

Mother's Day

Six days after the paparazzi photo was published, Kensington Palace released their first official portrait of Kate since her surgery which doubled both as a commemoration of Mother's Day in Britain, and also as a way to show the princess in her recovery and to thank well-wishers for their support.

The photo was reportedly taken by Prince William in the grounds of Windsor Castle that same week.

It showed Kate seated in a chair, surrounded by her three children: Prince George, 10; Princess Charlotte, 8; and Prince Louis, 5.

The photo sparked a worldwide controversy following its upload to social media and distribution to official news agencies, after evidence of image manipulation was spotted throughout the frame.

This heightened focus on conspiracy theories about the royal's health, and led to several photo agencies issuing "kill" notices to news outlets, instructing them to cease using the photo over concerns it violated guidelines.

Just over 24 hours after its release, on March 11, Kate issued a rare personal apology for the editing. She said via a post to social media: "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."

Headed for London

Hours after the apology was issued on March 11, Kate was spotted with Prince William leaving the grounds of Windsor Castle where their family home, Adelaide Cottage, is located.

The prince and princess were photographed by a press photographer while Prince William was on his way to London to attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey and while Kate, reportedly, had a private appointment.

As William was on his way to an engagement, the photograph was run by the U.K. press, unlike the March 4 TMZ image.

In the photo, William is in view with Kate looking in a direction away from the camera and cast in shadow.

This image, like the others, sparked further speculation online, with some suggesting it had been edited as brick patterns did not match on the wall behind the car. The image agency which distributed the photograph told Entertainment Tonight that the "image has been cropped and lightened, nothing has been doctored."

Weekend Shopping

On Monday, March 18, British tabloid newspaper The Sun ran a frontpage story reporting that Kate had been spotted alongside Prince William two days earlier shopping at the Windsor Farm Shop, the store on the Windsor estate which sells groceries, plants and gifts.

At the time, the paper did not run any photos of Kate from the day and instead, to illustrate the story, the paper ran an image of Kate taken at a previous engagement.

This caused an X (formerly Twitter) post of the story from royal editor Matt Wilkinson to be caveated with a community notice.

His post, viewed over 2 million times, read: "Front page of @TheSun on Monday. Princess of Wales has been seen out and about in public this weekend—spending Saturday shopping and Sunday watching her children play sports in Windsor. Full story visit Sun Online and/or buy a paper."

The community notice added: "This post and accompanying image are misleading. The photo of Kate used here is from last autumn. Kate was not seen by any verified sources and there are no photographs of her 'public trip.'"

Kensington Palace did not issue any public comment on the story or its content.

Later that same day, The Sun and TMZ both released video footage of Kate and Prince William at the farm shop. In the short clip, the princess was seen smiling alongside her husband while holding a grocery bag.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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