Where Is Kate Middleton? A Timeline of Media Scrutiny, Public Obsession

Some of the more wild speculations are that Kate died sometime earlier this year or late last year and the Palace is covering it up. There's also the theory that Prince William is trying to soft sell the public on a new woman, a secret mistress, perhaps, fading Kate into the background. Or how about it all just being a misdirect from the fact that it's King Charles III who died?

Nothing keeps a good conspiracy theory down, even when hard evidence comes along to perhaps debunk those theories. Evidence like official photos of King Charles performing his duties. Or photos and video of Kate certainly appearing to look alive and well.

In the case of the latter, armchair detectives are speculating that the photos and video are either doctored, or the Palace is using a doppelganger.

December 25: Kate was in good spirits and good health in what would turn out to be her final public appearance to date, smiling and waving alongside her family for their annual Christmas Day church service in Sandringham. Kate was photographed alongside William and their children, as well as King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they walked to St. Mary Magdalene Church near Sandringham House.

January 16: Kate was admitted to The London Clinic for what Kensington Palace described in an official statement as a "planned abdominal surgery." The statement further noted that "based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter," which is Sunday, March 31. The exact nature of the surgery has not been disclosed.

January 17: Kensington Palace's released statement notes that Kate's surgery was "successful" and her condition noncancerous. It was further stated that she was expected to stay in the hospital for approximately two weeks after which she would return to her home to continue her recovery.

January 18: Prince William was spotted leaving The London Clinic, where he had presumably been visiting Kate during her recovery. He reportedly had a male passenger in the car with him, per Page Six. Kensington Palace had said that William would be suspending his duties for a short time to be with his wife.

January 29: Kensington Palace announced that Kate has been discharged from the hospital and is back home in Windsor. "The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress," the statement read. "The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided."

February 5: Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III has been diagnosed with "a form of cancer," discovered during a routine prostate procedure, and is undergoing "a schedule of regular treatments." He was advised "to postpone public-facing duties" in the meantime, while continuing to "undertake State business and official paperwork as usual." Queen Camilla and Prince William were expected to step up and help fulfill those public duties.

February 27: Prince William abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance at a memorial service for his godfather, King Constantin II of Greece at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. The prince cited personal reasons for missing the event, which was still attended by other senior members of the family including Queen Camilla.

It was around this time that online speculation began to pick up that something more serious had happened with Kate and maybe all wasn't as well as the Royal family was reporting. The speculation has only continued to grow in the intervening weeks, becoming a story unto itself.

March 4: Kate was spotted in a vehicle being driven by her mother, Carole, near Windsor Castle, per TMZ, marking her first public sighting since December. The photo did little to stop speculation that something had happened to the princess, with some on social media speculating that the grainy photo was hardly definitive proof -- with some going so far as to suggest it was a body double.

March 10: The most controversial moment since Kate's last official appearance, the princess shared a family photo for Mother's Day in the UK, which was immediately torn apart. After publishing the photo, the Associated Press even put out a rare "kill notice" on it because it reportedly did not meet their standards. Getty pulled the photo, as well.

The AP cited apparent photo manipulation on Princess Charlotte's right hand, but online sleuths took things much further, finding multiple instances of apparent photo manipulation throughout the officially released photo. According to the palace, William took the picture at their cottage in Windsor.

March 11: One day after the authenticity of her Mother's Day photo was questioned, a message on behalf of Kate was posted to X/Twitter, with the princess taking responsibility for the found photo manipulations.

"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," the message read. "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

Sky News dug into the metadata of the photo finding that it was saved to Photoshop on an Apple MacBook, once on Friday night and again on Saturday morning before it was released. TMZ pinpointed five notable instances it believes were altered, noting "it's just a handful," with others noting more.

Queen Camila and Prince William continued to stand in for King Charles at public events, most notably the UK's Commonwealth Day celebrations. "Having recently celebrated my own 75th birthday, it warms my heart to reflect on the way the Commonwealth has been a constant throughout my own life--a precious source of strength, inspiration, and pride," the king said in a message played at the ceremony. "In recent weeks, I have been most deeply touched by your wonderfully kind and thoughtful good wishes for my health and, in return, can only continue to serve you, to the best of my ability, throughout the Commonwealth."

March 16: Eyewitnesses told The Sun that they saw Kate and William at Windsor Farm Shop, a mile from their Adelaide Cottage home in Windsor. Onlookers said the princess appeared "happy, relaxed and healthy." The outlet also reported the couple watched their kids "take part in sports" that morning.

March 18: TMZ shared video from Kate and William's shopping trip the previous weekend, confirming eyewitness reports. In the video, the couple are smiling and look well. Further, the outlet reported that they "delved into the metadata" and confirmed the video was shot on Saturday near the royals' home in Windsor.

March 19: With continuing speculation online now attempting to tear apart this new video by saying that it isn't really Kate in it, TMZ systematically pushed back against the most prolific arguments, like the existence of Christmas lights in the photo and an apparent height disparity. Even Kate's most famous doppelganger, Heidi Agan, is convinced its the real deal in the video, per TMZ.

After reports in Russia claim that King Charles III had died, Buckingham Palace issued a statement denying the speculation and reporting that the monarch is alive. "We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business," the Palace told news agency TASS in a statement, per E! News. Photos of the king meeting with Korean War veterans further confirmed he was well and performing his duties, as reported by TMZ.

According to The Mirror, a staffer at The London Clinic attempted to get a peek at Kate's medical records, but was intercepted. The outlet reports an internal investigation is underway and the Palace was informed.

There are mixed reports as to when Kate might return to her public duties. On the one hand, she may follow doctor's advice and return for the family's traditional Easter walk to church. There is, however, also speculation she might wait until the children return to school after April 17.

Either way, it is worth noting that her absence from the public since her surgery is still in line with what was first announced by the Palace all the way back in January. As they stated then, doctors advised her not to return to public duties until after Easter, which isn't until March 31. In other words, she appears to just be following her doctors' orders.