Kate Middleton seen for first time after surgery, British media refuses to publish pics

Kate Middleton has been photographed for the first time since her surgery

Kate Middleton has been spotted for the first time since her planned abdominal surgery and subsequent ‘disappearance’ that sent social media into a tizzy. The Princess of Wales was photographed near Windsor Castle on Monday. She sat in the passenger seat of an Audi being driven by her mother Carole. This marks the first time in over two months that the British royal has been seen in public – but rather than quelling rumours, her ‘reappearance’ has sparked even more questions.

Earlier this month, the internet exploded with wild conspiracy theories about Kate’s whereabouts after she disappeared from the public eye. Of course, the ‘disappearance’ is not unexplained – in a statement shared on January 17, the Royal Family had announced that the Princess of Wales had undergone a planned abdominal surgery and would return to public duties only after Easter.

pic.twitter.com/suxnT9Z564

Story continues below Advertisement

Remove Ad

— media (@ENTplus_) March 4, 2024

The speculation about Kate reached such massive proportions that Kensington Palace was forced to issue a rare statement to combat the rumours. “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,” a royal spokesperson told The Telegraph on March 1.

Media silence

Yesterday’s pictures show Kate wearing sunglasses and a dark overcoat. The pictures have been published by American news outlets, but not by the British media. This fact alone has added to the mystery surrounding Kate’s disappearance.

None of the major British tabloids and news outlets have so far run the photo of Kate that shows her near Windsor Castle.

There are pap picture of the Princess of Wales.
We are not running them out of respect for her privacy whilst she recovers from her operation in the timescale we were given for it.
As far as I know, no other UK broadcaster or newspaper has published the photos either.

Story continues below Advertisement

Remove Ad

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 4, 2024

ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship shed some light on the silence. In a post shared on X, he said that ITV is not running paparazzi pictures of Kate out of respect for her privacy.

“There are pap picture of the Princess of Wales. We are not running them out of respect for her privacy whilst she recovers from her operation in the timescale we were given for it,” Ship tweeted. “As far as I know, no other UK broadcaster or newspaper has published the photos either,” he added.

His words were echoed by Rebecca English, Royal Editor for the Daily Mail London, commented on the photographs without publishing them. “The Princess of Wales has been pictured for the first time since her surgery in unauthorised shots published by a US website. It follows weeks of troubling - and at times deeply sinister - social media speculation about her health,” she wrote.