Almost two months after Kate Middleton underwent a planned abdominal surgery with a lengthy recovery time, the Princess of Wales has stepped ever so slightly back into the spotlight. On Sunday, Kensington Palace released an official photo of Middleton with children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis in honor of the British Mother’s Day holiday. The image was snapped recently by her husband, Prince William, according to the Palace.
In the photo, which was posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, the mother and children are casually dressed, and all bear broad grins. Middleton, who is seated, has her arms around her younger kids, while George stands behind her with arms draped over his mother’s shoulders.
“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” the caption to the photo reads. “Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,” it said, and was simply signed “C”.
Though the 42-year-old Middleton has commemorated Mother’s Day in the past, this year’s note is likely intended to do double duty. Though messaging from the Palace since her January surgery and subsequent weeks-long hospitalization has been that Middleton would step away from royal duties until April, certain fans have taken her absence from the public eye to mean that something more mysterious is afoot.
Even as conspiracies swirled, fueled in part by the 41-year-old William’s pared-back schedule as he supported his wife, the Palace stood firm, saying earlier this month that “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’s recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands.”
Even a paparazzi photo snapped of the princess as she rode in a car driven by her mother, Carole Middleton, failed to quell wild rumors of some sort of amorphously-motivated cover-up.
The Palace says that this new, official photo of Middleton was taken by William in Windsor, the home of the family’s Adelaide Cottage residence, within the past week. It’s the first official photo of Middleton since Christmas Day, 2023, when she and many other members of the royal family attended services at Sandringham.
Will today’s social media posts finally quell the gossip and speculation that’s plagued the family since mid-January, when Middleton first checked into London Clinic for her procedure? A look at the comments posted since suggests that some continue to insist that there’s more to the story than a private health matter, but the multitude of positive responses suggest that far more folks have embraced Occam’s razor over theories of conspiracy.
