Marrying into the British Royal Family means not only dealing with learning and adjusting to the new customs but also being exposed to the judgments of the public eye. Recently, Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, the future king, was a victim of such an incident.

In January, the Royal Family announced that Kate had undergone a planned abdominal surgery. It was said that everything went smoothly and Kate would remain in the hospital for up to 14 days after the surgery. The announcement also stated that in prioritizing a quick recovery, Kate would likely not return to her public duties until after Easter. The public was asked to respect Kate and the Royal Family’s privacy, especially with Kate’s children in mind.

In February, Kate was released from the hospital and continued her recovery at home. Palace sources report that Kate is ‘doing well’ in her recovery. Regardless, the public became suspicious about the lack of details regarding Kate’s recovery. Concern quickly turned to internet sleuths creating out-of-control theories regarding Kate’s absence from the public and the lack of reports from the palace. Theories begin to spread that Kate was really recovering from facial plastic surgery or even from a Brazilian butt lift, “I saw theories that were related to a bunch of photos of a Kate Middleton that went as far as to say that Kate was being replaced by this look alike and that she really was ‘missing’,” junior Maggie Hennesy said.

The pictures of Kate’s ‘clone’ were pictures of the first time she was spotted in public after her surgery in March. People immediately jumped in online stating that they ‘knew’ what Kate really looked like and that these photos were released in an attempt to cover up the fact that the Princess was missing. “I think that ever since the death of Princess Diana, there’s been this weird nuanced belief that the Royal Family has malicious intent behind whatever might be going on, but you have to remember that these are actual people too and they’re dealing with the battles of being a normal human,” junior Anna Lizondo said.

Kate released a photo of her and her three children on Mother’s Day in hopes of quelling some of the growing rumors surrounding her recovery. She was met with the opposite response, with people taking this photo and overanalyzing it to convince people that this was an AI generated image. The photo was quickly taken down with Kate posting an explanation that she, “like many amateur photographers, [does] occasionally experiment with editing,” she said.

On Mar 22, Kate shared a personal video message in which she explained that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing preventative chemotherapy. “People are so quick to jump down other people’s throats when they don’t even know what is going on in their lives. I feel like she really silenced people with this message and it’s so sad because she doesn’t even owe us an explanation,” Lizondo said.

The Royal Family has always been of interest to people around the world, making fans believe they have the right to circulate conspiracy theories that paint the royals in a negative light. “I think it’s unfair that just because Kate is a public figure, people feel the need to speculate about why she wasn’t around. She has as much right to privacy as anyone else,” math teacher David Fantegrossi said.