Prince William and Kate Middleton Must Counter Divorce Theory

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been subjected to conspiracy theories suggesting her absence from public life was motivated by a secret divorce—in a crisis that threatens to explode into the mainstream if not challenged by the couple.

The Princess of Wales has not stepped into the public domain for an official royal appearance since Christmas Day and was then forced to apologize for editing a family portrait released officially by Kensington Palace on Sunday.

She had already been dealing with rampant social media conspiracy theories, and the photo only turbo charged the gossip and speculation online.

And in a vacuum of information from the palace, the theories are getting more and more extreme. Some which have been viewed millions of times are far too offensive, absurd and baseless to be reported by Newsweek.

At one end of the spectrum, some have painted the princess as "missing" in the wake of her break from the public eye following abdominal surgery in January, while one Spanish journalist claimed Kate was in a medically induced coma—a claim the palace called "ludicrous." More light-hearted takes have included a joke she is waiting for bangs to grow out.

One persistent rumor, which appears to have no evidence to back it up, has been suggestions of a secret divorce or marriage break-up. Newsweek approached Kensington Palace by email for comment.

This threatened to explode into the mainstream when comedian Stephen Colbert referenced a long-standing rumor about their relationship on The Late Show.

Sarah Vine, a high-profile columnist for the Daily Mail, suggested one of the most striking aspects of Kate's doctored Mother's Day photo was the absence of her wedding ring.

The article, trailed on the newspaper's front page, read: "It's true that she doesn't always wear the diamond and sapphire engagement ring, for obvious reasons. But her wedding band? When has the Princess of Wales ever been seen without that?

"Now, there may be a perfectly good medical reason why she is not wearing it."

Vine suggested she could have been advised by doctors not to wear it in case her knuckles swelled up post-surgery, or perhaps because she had lost weight, but also noted Prince William "hasn't exactly been quite himself of late."

He pulled out of a planned reading at the memorial service for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, over a personal matter, which the palace would not reveal, and it was so late in the day that his name was still on the order of service.

Vine wrote: "The chapel is only a few minutes by car from his home in the grounds of Windsor Castle. How serious a 'personal matter' can it have been that he couldn't get away for an hour or so?

"All of this makes the absence of that wedding ring on a picture that the princess, by her own admission, spent a good deal of time doctoring even more concerning.

"It makes it seem almost deliberate, a statement in its own right. If it's not there, could that be because she doesn't want it there? It doesn't bear thinking about."

The problem for the palace is that the public do not understand why privacy around health makes a photo impossible months after Kate's planned surgery, which was on January 16.

The palace has gone on record to say at different stages that the surgery was successful, that the princess had been discharged and that she was continuing to do well.

And there is still no undoctored post-surgery image of Kate in which she is clearly visible, with no explanation as to why. The absence of information has left conspiracy theorists to fill the void.

Needless to say, the divorce conspiracy—no matter how wide of the mark it may well be—was there at the beginning of this international mystery and is unlikely to go away any time soon unless countered.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced their own rampant divorce rumors in summer 2023 during a period in which they stepped away from public life following a rocky start to the year.

The chatter became at points absurd, with suggestions of a secret $80 million divorce case, and only died down after they put on a loved-up display at the Invictus Games in September 2023.

The rumor referenced by Colbert has been bubbling under the surface for six years and no amount of ignoring it has stopped it taking firm root in the public consciousness, not only in Britain but around the world.

There is little evidence the current crisis will fade any quicker unless some kind of intervention is made. A public appearance in which William and Kate can be seen interacting warmly with one another might help.

The princess was not originally expecting to go back to work until after Easter, which, if it includes the school holidays, would stretch into the middle of April, though she could be off longer even than that.

Which means the palace faces the prospect of trying to limp on for more than a month while the social media vultures circle. Perhaps, though, William and Kate might consider whether she had it in her to tag along to an event at some stage.

One possible opportunity this week would be the Diana Award, on Thursday, which William has not been to in person since 2017.

He will be going this year, as Kensington Palace confirmed this week, to mark the event's 25th anniversary.

Given the high levels of sympathy that remain for Princess Diana and her experience of the struggles of life in the public eye, there could scarcely be a more supportive forum for Prince William and Kate to perhaps offer slightly more of a glimpse of what's going on. Even if it were simply to say the princess has been struggling.

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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