Kate Middleton conspiracy theorists have been warned she may reveal details of her operation and "a lot of people are going to feel a lot of regret" if she does, according to a leading royal correspondent.
Chris Ship, royal editor at U.K. news outlet ITV, said he had spoke to a friend of the Princess of Wales and added that she will in future "elaborate on her time away from public duties."
Conspiracy theories have snowballed online over close to a month, with many saying Kate was "missing." In recent days, some have become particularly extreme and offensive.
Ship wrote in an article for ITV's website: "When Kate does return to work—be that at Easter, during the Easter holidays or after the schools return from the Easter break (in the case of George, Charlotte and Louis' school, that is April 17)—I'm told she will elaborate on her time away from public duties.
"We will likely hear during one of her chats with the public or with someone from a charity that she's come to support, what it has been like being sick and knowing the rampant clamour online for people to see a photograph or some kind of 'proof of life.'
"Kate may even choose to give some more details about the type of procedure she had," Ship added.
"If and when she does, according to a friend of hers, a lot of people are going to feel a lot of regret about the pressure Kate was put under to appear in public during her recovery."
Kate's last public engagement was the royal family's walk to church on Christmas Day before she then had planned abdominal surgery on January 16, which Kensington Palace in London announced the following day.
The palace statement said Kate appreciated how much attention the operation would cause but indicated she would not be back to work until after Easter.
There was no explicit statement to say that being off public duties would also mean there would be no privately taken photographs of the kind people are used to seeing on celebrity Instagram accounts.
For around a month or more, the palace stance appeared to be working, although conspiracy theories were starting to develop and gather pace on X, formerly Twitter.
Mainstream media organizations largely ignored them, except to shoot down a wild claim from a Spanish journalist that Kate was in a medically induced coma.
However, in the final week of February, the 'Kate Middleton is missing' trend started to become extremely viral, pulling in people who were not typical royal watchers.
Prince William then pulled out of a planned reading for his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, on February 28. It was a decision taken so late that his name was already on the order of service.
Kensington Palace would only say that it was due to a personal matter. With that ambiguity, the theorists appeared to have all the confirmation they needed that something was going on behind the scenes.
The crisis then built and built as social-media speculation only snowballed, and on March 10, the palace released a new photo of the princess to mark U.K. Mother's Day.
The picture, however, was manipulated in multiple places, leading to international picture agencies issuing a "kill notice" on grounds it had been altered.
Since then, the theories have become more extreme and, in some cases, grotesque, leaving the palace facing a major PR headache.
Then, The Sun in Britain and TMZ in America yesterday published video footage of Kate Middleton and Prince William, walking visiting Windsor Farm Shop.
Needless to say, that still did not appear to quell the conspiracy theories, with some saying it was not Kate Middleton in the images.
Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
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