Catherine, Princess of Wales, is said to be out of the house again for the first time since December, making a casual public appearance after weeks of speculation about her well-being, not to mention less than a week after the instantly infamous Kensington Palace ordeal. . The photo of life fails.
The former Kate Middleton was reportedly spotted near her home in Windsor on Saturday, according to the Sun. The British princess visited Windsor Farm Shop, which is about a mile from her Adelaide Cottage home, and viewers said she looked “happy, relaxed and healthy.”
Prince William, heir to the British throne, accompanied her on the shopping trip, but her three children, with whom they reportedly spent the morning, did not, the tabloid said. No photos or videos from the outing accompanied Sun's story, further fueling viral assumptions about the future queen.
Kensington Palace and Windsor Farm Shop have not commented on the departure.
If authentic, Saturday's alleged outing marked the first time she was seen in a public space since her Jan. 16 abdominal surgery and corresponding recovery that resulted in Kate's withdrawal from public duties until Easter. But in the weeks since Kensington Palace's announcement in mid-January, speculation has filled the void of its absence, giving rise to the Case of the “Missing” Princess and a fringe obsession with the Internet that has become a veritable international incident.
Although Kensington Palace has said the princess wishes to keep her personal medical information private, the lack of transparency and greater opacity with which the monarchy has handled her illness in the face of conspiracy theories has created more headaches for the beleaguered institution. The silence has drawn damning comparisons to the scandals involving William's mother, Princess Diana, and her sister-in-law, the former Meghan Markle.
“They have forced a reckoning of all the times the royal family and the palace press have covered up, often with outright lies, scandals, indiscretions and health problems,” Times cultural critic Mary McNamara wrote last week. “Whoever is running Kate's information campaign is making it too easy for us to remember Princess Diana's eating disorders, mental health problems and instances of self-harm, not to mention Meghan Markle's description of her suicidal ideation.”
Catherine had reportedly been “seen” twice since her hospitalization, apparently photographed riding in vehicles around her home. But even those alleged sightings have been called into question given the tenuous details about her condition and the paucity of appearances of her since then.
The doubt was further aggravated last week when the palace published a manipulated image of Catherine and a questionable apology attributed to the mother of three for “any confusion” caused by her amateurishly edited image.
The manipulations of the image were so egregious that news agencies such as the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, Getty Images and Britain's Palestinian Authority had to remove it from circulation or issue “takedown” notices.
And Instagram, where the Waleses originally posted the photo and where it remains, also included an “altered photo” disclaimer in the March 10 post that read: “Independent fact-checkers say the photo or image has been edited in a way that could be misleading.” people, but not because it has been shown out of context.” (Yes, that's the same Instagram that also provides filters and other photo and video editing tools to anyone with an account.) X, previously Twitter, also published a discharge of responsibility in the official Prince and Wales Princess who said that the image “is believed to be digitally altered.”
Goff Photos, which took several images on March 11 of Kate allegedly in the back seat of a car with William, has since confirmed that her photographs had been “cropped and lightened” but that “nothing has been retouched.”
Prominent celebrities joined in, and two notables, Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively, were criticized for their “tasteless” parodies.
“I'm going to get Kate,” the “Kardashians” star wrote on Sunday, captioning an image of herself next to a vehicle. (By the way, reality stars and beauty moguls have been repeatedly criticized by fans for regularly retouching their photos and cited in stories about Kate's editing mistake.)
“I'm so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new products @bettybuzz and @bettybooze! Now you know why I've disappeared,” Lively wrote on Friday, posting a promotional image of her and her drink line that had clearly been altered.
While some followers found their current sarcasm at the time of the event funny, others criticized them for spreading rumors or “bullying another woman.”
“Can Kim imagine being trolled and made fun of after being robbed in Paris? Girl delete this insensitive post 😮,” one user commented on Kardashian's post.
“Very disappointed that you jumped on the 'let's make fun of Kate' dog pile,” another user commented on Lively's post. Neither star apologized or deleted their posts.
