You could absolutely feel the panic creeping in over at Kensington Palace in recent days. The Telegraph piece which I covered earlier was basically an admission that they’ve f–ked up the messaging around the Princess of Wales’s hospitalization and recovery. In KP’s vacuum, wild rumors spread online, from rumors of BBLs and plastic surgery to rumors about some altogether more unpleasant things. Keep in mind, even I half-believed that it was possible that Kate was in a coma. So, the palace knew they had to do something. And that something was set up a little photo-op, in which we could see Kate being driven around by her mother:
Kate Middleton Seen in Public for First Time Since Mystery Hospitalization | Click to read more 👇 https://t.co/O7zlxZfiCY
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 4, 2024
Kate Middleton is seen for the first time since abdominal surgery in January amid growing concerns she had "gone missing."
The Princess of Wales was seen this morning briefly with her mom Carole who was driving. pic.twitter.com/zkdZlwiQZX
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) March 4, 2024
TMZ reports that these pics were taken near Windsor Castle, thus “proving” that Kate is staying at Adelaide Cottage, I guess. I mean, Bucklebury isn’t that far from Windsor (it’s all part of Berkshire) and I’ve wondered if Kate has been staying at her parents’ place this whole time. It’s also worth noting that this is the first sighting of Carole since early December too. Carole went missing for months as well.
And no, I don’t think this is a Fauxlania situation. I think that’s really Kate, sitting up in the passenger seat of her mom’s SUV. Which begs the question… why did Kensington Palace wait this long to arrange photos of her if she looks this normal and she’s well enough for it?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
-
- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The British Royals leaving Buckingham Palace for Xmas lunch with HRH The Queen. Pictured: Prince William – Catherine Duchess of Cambridge – Kate Middleton – Princess Charlotte BACKGRID USA 18 DECEMBER 2019 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Duchess of Cambridge spotted the morning after Meghan Markle accused her of making her cry. She was spotted driving into Kensington Palace. In her explosive interview with Oprah, Meghan also addressed how she was treated differently in the press saying, ‘We’ve all had to deal with some things that are rude,’ rude and racist are not the same.” Pictured: Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 8 MARCH 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MJ Pictures / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Duchess of Cambridge spotted the morning after Meghan Markle accused her of making her cry. She was spotted driving into Kensington Palace. In her explosive interview with Oprah, Meghan also addressed how she was treated differently in the press saying, ‘We’ve all had to deal with some things that are rude,’ rude and racist are not the same.” Pictured: Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 8 MARCH 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MJ Pictures / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club in Windsor. Pictured: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge BACKGRID USA 6 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club in Windsor. Pictured: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge BACKGRID USA 6 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club in Windsor. Pictured: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge BACKGRID USA 6 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Grange Pavilion in Cardiff to meet with members from the Windrush Cymru Elders, Black History Cymru 365, and the Ethnic Minority Youth Forum for Wales, and hear about the contribution the Windrush generation has had on the Welsh community and learn about how young minority ethnic individuals are creating positive change. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Cardiff, United Kingdom When: 02 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Grange Pavilion in Cardiff to meet with members from the Windrush Cymru Elders, Black History Cymru 365, and the Ethnic Minority Youth Forum for Wales, and hear about the contribution the Windrush generation has had on the Welsh community and learn about how young minority ethnic individuals are creating positive change. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Cardiff, United Kingdom When: 02 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I reserve judgment on what this photo really represents.
It’s a bit grainy, but she looks different.
I’m sure this was staged because of all the bad press.
It looks like she is on steroids. They blow your face up something horrible.
Probably why she didn’t want to be seen.
@Lauren … I agree about the graininess, which is odd because if this was a long-distance photo lens wouldn’t Carole’s face in the photo be grainy as well?
Sorry, but this looks like a grainy photo of Pippa in sunglasses and a wig to me. It looks almost black and white and very much like it was ‘Photoshopped’ in.
The whole image is an AI hack job by TMZ. The car has five wheels, ffs.
Did TMZ do this of their own volition, or was this ordered by Kate’s new idiot secretary?
Grainey images are a standard issue with long lens photography, where one part of the picture has plenty of light, and the other is actually under exposed because it has only shade to light the image. In other words, sunlight is coming through the window on one side of the car, providing plenty of light for a good exposure, and the other side of the car is in shade not providing enough light for a good high-quality exposure. It happens all the time that the side in shade appears more grainy. This is because with less light, less information was absorbed, and that is reflected in the lower quality photograph on the right hand side. Since this is such an obvious and routine issue with photography, it does seem a little early to be jumping to the conclusion that the image is some kind of nefarious fake set up by TMZ.
Why is TMZ getting this exclusive? Are they now the pap of choice in the UK?
It’s such a staged photo. Only one picture? If they are driving by this pap’s location, couldn’t they have snapped 20 pictures in the span of a few seconds?
And yes, as others have noted, where is her security detail? Or her supposedly waiting on hands and knees husband?
Bowel resection actually makes the most sense based on how she looks. If she had a flare up, they’d have likely
Put her on steroids to make sure she feels great, but now she has moon face. I don’t blame her for extending her time off since her looks are basically what she has traded on for years, and right now she’s not at her best. But the steroids are literally life saving when one is in a flare up, as she will be able to continue more or less as normal. However, based on this picture, I think she will become even more work shy bc she won’t want to be seen in public.
One question I have though – she has always professed her love of spicy food, but has apparently had GI issues for over a decade. Why would she keep eating spicy food when it tears her stomach up and causes distress?
I guess I had more faith in what I assumed her doctors were doing (yearly scans, everything preventative), but really she was just cold plunging and having massive GI problems.
Her face looks swollen, but this would be normal if she’s on steroids. I honestly feel very sorry for her and hope she recovers well.
For me, the difference in the nostrils and the bone/cartilage between them is starkly different to Kate’s.
Her mouth… Do you remember that Scarlett-O’Harrian picture of her on the Caribbean flop tour? Her mouth looked similar then. Stroke? We suspected emergency dental work then…
That’s Pippa with a differ hairstyle. The face shape is Pippa and the forehead is difficult to mistake. That’s not Kate .
Where are the protection officers?
Pretty sure that woman they’re trying to pass off as Kate *is* the RPO.
Why not just a statement thanking folks for their well wishes on her official letterhead. The papwalk was unnecessary and raises weird questions about divorce…
Yes! They have all been howling about how dare people expect to see her when they made it clear that we wouldn’t. But… that wasn’t really the problem? If they would have had normal thankyouforyourwellwishes messages from the start people wouldn’t have been so suspicious
What it represents will come out in the fullness of time. Things that can be gleaned today:
1. It was entirely, obviously staged.
2. CarolE is driving her instead of Will, which is interesting.
3. CarolE looks rough and is also quite PO’d in that pic
4. Kate looks rough as well (if it’s her, which I think it is, mostly)
5. Why aren’t security officers with them?
It’s a body double. Both Kate and Pippa have moles on their faces, just below the apple of their cheek, above their lip (Kate’s is closer to her smile line).
Whomsoever that is in the seat next to Carole (probably the RPO), it’s not Kate or Pippa, because that woman does not have a mole above her lip.
TMZ released the photo. Rupert Murdoch owns TMZ. Murdoch has Workshy by the short and curlies – sorry, they have an “invisible contract”. :eyeroll:
This is just part of the ongoing panic & sh-tty coverup by the Palaces, KP in particular. They have no idea how to do their damn job.
This doesn’t put aside any questions I had. In fact it raises more.
Where are her security?
TMZ got the scoop on her? Sure…ok…nothing to see there
She may very well be on prednisone (I took it for an autoimmune illness and swelled up) BUT it’s the shape of her mouth that is drawing my attention. Something doesn’t look right.
Photo quality…in this day and age with high tech cameras, the only shots are this grainy?
This is a response to the speculation – but my spider sense is still going off.
It looks like her lip is drawn down to one side and I’ve usually seen that on people who have had a stroke. Agree about the steroids. If she had a stroke she may be relearning a bunch of things which would explain the absence (as well as why they were hiding her, I.e. she may have had les control before).
Please don’t be this crazy on this site. I need somewhere more sane than the daily mail but y’all are really pushing it.
Omg yes! It’s the shape of the mouth, isn’t it? And also the squarer jaw (even if it’s Kate on steroids). It actually looks like Pippa’s mouth and jaw to me ……..
Why is it that the side with Carol is highly visible, but kate’s is highly grainy?
This. You can see EVERY line on Carole’s face – but Kate is so grainy in the same shot?
🤔
@ Proud Mary. Totally agree!
At first sight of the photo I thought “Oh look at Pippa and her mom!”
My second thought was, “Why is this so grainy, esp in certain places?”
Because she was really sick for a bit…and most ppl don’t want pictures taken when they feel they don’t look great. Especially those who have people tearing apart their every flaw…even people who are supposedly on the side of kindness. It was not OK how the press and much of the internet treated MM, and it’s not ok here, either.
@Proud Mary … I said as much up stream. It’s so obvious. It’s supposedly the same photo, yet Carole is crystal clear and ‘Kate’ is grainy and faded. The picture of Kate looks like it’s from a long-distance lens and Carole is well within normal photo lens range.
Anima, if it was just about vanity, why couldn’t they have merely photoshopped the pic to make her (or both of them) look better? I mean, the media has been doing that with Kate’s pictures for years.
We’ve had cold but clear weather isn’t parts of the UK for the last few days and this is fairly typical of the light you get at certaIn times of the day. I’d guess this was morning or mid-late afternoon.. C is on the side of the car the sun is on and one side of her face is illuminated. K is on the shaded side. It’s incredibly clear crisp light, it shows up all the wrinkles. C will be fizzing.
Maeve, there’s a difference between grainy and shadowy/cloudy. My question remains, why is one side pixelated, while the other is not?
Could be that that was a high contrast between sun on Carole’s face and shade inside the car. The human eye can see light and dark at the same time but a camera on auto adjust will pick the brighter area to focus on leaving shaded areas nearly black and low res. Plus if the car was moving that would also be a low res photo. My guess is that the original picture is nearly all dark on Kate’s side and that someone spent a lot of time tweaking this in Lightroom to even pull up an image.
Mairzy, you’re pretty much just repeating the same argument of Maeve above. So my question still stands regarding pixilation.
There is less light on Kate’s side. Light is critical in getting good pics.
I do think the grain is just because of the shadow, not doctoring. What alarms me more is that this does appear to be Pippa, to my untrained eye.
Also there looks to be just a tiny bit of a very straight line, coming up from the driver side of the middle back seat, and pointing up at an 11 o’clock angle. There don’t seem to be many other very straight lines in tht rear view window.
Also shouldn’t we be seeing some tree trunks through the rear window? Even if there was film on the glass or it was bullet proof glass, it shouldn’t look like a mottled JCPenney photo background given the rest of the picture.
Srsly, these people should get a phone consult from Kris Jenner and maybe get her main photoshop guy’s number.
This is indeed Carole Middleton with her daughter, just not Kate. It’s Pippa. The hairline is Pippa’s. That’s why there’s no security, why it’s grainy, and why it looks so much like Kate.
I think it might be Pippa too. It looks more like Pippa in the area around the mouth.
And the forehead. Pipa has a very high and oval shaped forehead, Kate doesn’t. This is Pippa.
The Midds are very manipulative and publicity hungry. The latest disappearance and they have happened every year, the difference is that this one has been fueled by innuendos and publicised. This has not turned Kate into Princess Diana. Looking at the latest car photo, the hairdressers have tweaked the extensions and done her hair, as you do when you are so ill that you cannot do anything. The empathy and the speculation all based on rumors has been designed to get more and more attention. The longer she stays hidden the greater the empathy, has she actually had a serious operation or is this just another ploy to make the BRF more relevant. What if the only thing happening is desperation and a deliberate campaign to have the world focussing on Kate. Have people forgotten where the hate campaigns against Meghan and Harry originate.
I take sharper photos with my cell phone. That’s either Pippa or a bad double.
I do not believe that is Kate. All of a sudden TMZ got a pap photo . Kate is very ill, there is no way that Kate is the one in the photo. Where is security? Where is Pegs?
I have no idea if that’s Kate or not. I think it is? But it’s such a weirdly staged photo. Like, no RPOs? Not with William but her mother? And TMZ got it? They didn’t even call the DM?
Also just LOL at how William was all “I don’t answer to the tabloids” and now behold. Turns out they do.
I think the reason we haven’t gotten a pic sooner (a grainy pic like this) is because she refused. Even here she looks pissed as hell. I think she was forced to do this.
I truly think this is AI generated. The grainy-ness looks digital; the five wheels on the car (no it’s not the tree trunk, the perspective doesn’t align); and the missing left side to Kate’s sunglasses; the missing mole on Kate’s cheek; the blotchy darkness under the sunglasses is too opaque to be a real photograph…
As someone who works in art and professionally reads images all day long, I’d put my rep pk the line to say this is AI (or heavily doctored to the point of being more photoshop than photograph).
LOL! Nice try…photoshopped. Two different photos. Jeez guys!
I’m pretty sure she’s on cortisone. She has a very puffy face and probably body too.
That’s probably why there are no pictures of her. That would destroy Kate’s “perfect” image. Even this super edited pixelated image makes me feel sorry for Kate. At least almost.
I’ve been hospitalized for less and it’s often taken weeks for me to lose the water weight from all the IV fluids. Like, I lost a significant amount of weight from barely eating during recovery, but I looked all swollen and jiggled when I moved and had cankles despite my pre-hospital weight being 95lbs. It takes a WHILE for the body to work that shit out of the system. May or may not have anything to do with her, but it’s one of many possibilities like ‘roids.
The same thing happened to me. If I had a public life like Kate, you can be damn sure I’d refuse to be seen in public until the swelling subsided!
Yup, came here to say this. And that would explain why she’s being hid.
What explains her not working from bed like they said she would?
I am now also quite sure that Kate unfortunately has chron’s or another chronic intestinal disease and part of her intestine was removed. An Instagramer who reports on the fashion of all the royals (who I can’t stand, btw, because shes a bit too negatively about Meghan) and claims she is in contact with someone who has information (which I actually never believed) has this assumption thrown into the room in quite a lot of detail.
Apparently Kate has to wear a stoma and she may have to wear it forever or a very long time. Which of course would be a disaster for them and the monarchy, because how do you hide something like that? It also fits that Kate has been touching her stomach during engagements for a very long time, as if she was uncomfortable there. For me, this reasoning is absolutely the most plausible.
I can’t imagine that she has a cyst on her ovaries or something like that. The recovery phase and hospital time is far too long for that. If it was dramatic, then she would have had something cancer-like. A person very close to me had ovarian cancer (a very bad, aggressive cancer) and even she didn’t have to recover that long (even though she was older than Kate, privately insured, everything that was affected was removed, including many lymph nodes, peritoneum, a piece of the intestine, etc .)
I think we won’t see Kate for so long because she has a stoma. And not because she needs so long to recover.
…and of course because of her changed and bloated appearance due to cortisone etc….
but who knows… and what other reasons it could be: laziness, cosmetic surgery (BBL ;), mental illness, divorce,… nothing would surprise me anymore.
Unfortunately, I even wouldn’t be surprised if the tabloits remain pro KP so that we would never find out the real reason.
My brother in law is a gastroenterologist and he couldn’t think of anything that needed such a long hospitalisation and recuperation. Chrohn’s or a hysterectomy were his best guesses but he was genuinely stumped.
That constant touching of the abdomen–something we’ve seen since early in her marriage to Willie Boy–could be less of a discomfort thing & more of an ED-related thing–as in checking that yep, stomach is still flat (from personal experience).
@Sam — you don’t “wear” a stoma, it’s a permanent opening on the abdomen that can be connected to either your digestive or urinary system to allow waste to exit. I am having bladder cancer surgery in a couple of weeks and will have a stoma in my abdomen that I will have to catheterize 6 – 8 times a day as I am having something called an Indiana Pouch created (an internal bladder made out of a portion of lower intestine). A stoma is very small and easily hidden under clothing. I think you must mean an ostomy bag which is an external pouch.
@Jaded
Sorry, you’re totally right. English is not my native language, over here we colloquially call the ostomy bag stoma.
I wish you all the best for your upcoming surgery! <3
@jaded – wishing you the best of luck and for a speedy recovery!
I’ll just jump in to stay, as someone with a stoma who has an ostomy…it is perfectly disguisable, even in “tight” clothes and it isn’t shameful either.
Now, I also have Crohn’s Disease and the chat that she might have CD or UC has been all over the place. I think it could be that OR that she had a bowel obstruction or (more likely, but even worse) a bowel perforation that required a massive surgery to repair. Mine did. The timeline fits.
And, unfortunately, perforations are not an uncommon symptom of people suffering from malnutrition or EDs. So, Crohn’s or UC is only one possibility.
do you happen to know the name of the royal fashion instagrammer?
@Jackie Here in the US at least a hysterectomy is done as an outpatient procedure most often nowadays through laparoscopy. I walked out of the hospital 10 hours after mine.
But if she did have serious abdominal surgery, why didn’t William (aside from once) or her family visit her? Makes no sense at all. And if she did have this surgery, why not say so and get sympathy and help others with similar issues – unless they’re afraid that a link will be made to eating disorders and that would burst the Happy Family bubble?
200%. She feels like sh*t, she looks like sh*t, she likely has a long recovery ahead.
I’m not a Kate fan, but it’s no mystery why she wouldn’t want to be seen. I truly do not understand how this turned into such a big deal.
The only reason I can think of that this exploded is the lack of fluff articles about her all these weeks. We’re not used to seeing her at this time so no pictures wasn’t the deal breaker. It was the vague announcement of a big surgery and no articles how she was a lynchpin or bedrock of the monarchy, or the kids tending to her, things like that. IT just made the whole thing…..strange.
If she does have a colostomy now, she probably won’t be seen in full until it is reversed. How else can she wear clothes to emphasis how thin she is if she’s also accomodating a bag?
Because of no statement from her, thanking everyone for their get well wishes, because of no sightings or briefings by ma Middleton until now, because of Will being like I’m not working either, because Charles did it so much better….
Take your pick….it wasn’t about her but how they handled it!
Truth- very solid point. I think that doesn’t phase me because I assume they’re all completely incompetent- so it doesn’t even occur to me that they’re covering something up. They’re just bumbling morons.
They’re not smart or organized enough to cover anything up.
What made it a big deal internationally was her husbands flaky behavior. If william had just carried on with engagements instead of suggesting he also needed months of recovery and then suddenly withdrawing from Constantine’s memorial 45 minutes beforehand, no one outside the world of royal watchers would have noticed
The conspiracy exploded because KP PR people are stupid.
@SLUSH I think it exploded because that is the nature of the beast now, people do consider wildly speculating about real people on social media harmless entertainment. The hypocrisy of the British tabloids is something to behold though. I will never forget a guy called Niall Aslam who dropped out of Love Island after a few days and ‘disappeared ‘. His whole family and all his friends were put under surveillance by the papers. Lots of “…seen for the FIRST TIME SINCE” when they exited their houses, I’m also fairly sure the journalists went through their bins. People want to feel strongly about things that aren’t important, so they don’t have to think about real stuff. The Internet Detective (her sleeve is only rolled down on the side where the patch is, folks!) and True Crime cultures are part of it too.
I accept that I’ve not bothered to engage with much of it but from where I am sitting the vibe hasn’t been significantly worse or more intense than during Princess Charlene’s dissapperance.
Although I have complained in the past about the urge people get to know something just because its been deliberately kept secret from them I think the thing that has drawn me to some conspiricising and the group of those demanding to know, is the previous behaviour of the institution. And not just in relation to Meghan, but that’s also a factor.
I was shocked when Queen died and then I was angry. And do you know why? Because as a UK taxpayer and news consumer I felt I’d been duped, lied to and mislead about the state of her health. It’s one thing not to tell you it’s another to mislead you. And at this point I’ve had enough, I dont want to be taken by surprise about what happens to Kate and I don’t want to find out the truth 20 years later either. That’s another thing they do, they tell us in the UK 20 years later as if to say “ha ha . Remember the time we all told you this? Well, ha ha, it was all a lie! We didn’t tell you because we wanted to avoid the reaction we would have deserved had we told you *then*. That’s fair isn’t it? You guys would have demanded a republic had you known, yikes! Well, it’s all water under the bridge and they’ve never put a foot wrong. No hard feelings, eh?”
They lied and mislead about Prince Philip and Princess Margaret too. The dam has just burst from me. They have Cried Wolf too often to be able to get away with vague statements any more. Contempt and cynicism is all I can muster. I want to be sympathetic to Kate but what am I supposed to be sympathetic about – I don’t know what happened to her? I don’t even believe ‘abdominal surgery’ as that’s apparently a go-to cover up code. All I know is that she is alive but doesn’t want be seen, the only word that comes to mind is ‘vanity’. I’m afraid I can’t do it, I can’t take on trust that I should be sympathetic, this institution has abused my trust many times already (I used to be royalist).
I can’t imagine a single issue Kate would have that it wouldn’t be beneficial for her to be relatively candid about, in order to raise awareness in her self-appointed role as leader and role model. If it is embarrassing then talking about it herself will reduce the stigma in general? Being ill is not a weakness. All I can think of is the guy who got into trouble for rolling Princess Margaret onto the balcony in her wheelchair.Their attitude stinks, I’m sorry.
Yeah, for some reason this photo freaks me out. Not the fact that she was forced into it, but the fact that it shows us that something is really wrong.
Grim looking mom, and Kate looks like a marionette. do i believe that’s kate? I’m inclined to believe yes, but she’s not there to the full extent, like maybe she’s had a stroke, she doesn’t have full range of function
My goodness, the poor kids. I wonder why the secrecy though. Does Bulliam not want the public to feel sorry for her or what…the reason for this development puts him in a bad light… why, how…it just makes all the events more mysterious.
This is exactly what I’ve thought — she’s on prednisone which is super common after a big host of medical issues. When I’ve had to be on it, it’s made my face puffy majorly puffy. Part of her brand is glamour and thinness, and she probably doesnt want to be seen that way.
Wow, OK… I don’t want to comment much, except she looks rough 🙁 I wonder if PettyWilly kicked her out of the house as ‘proof of life’ or something. He’s awful.
P.S. I think it’s her too, no FauxMelania situation here.
Yeah, I think it’s her, no faux Melania & it’s not Pippa. Good to know she’s alive. All of this was so unnecessary! Will they have learned from this? No.
I don’t know …. it looks like a dead body wearing sunglasses.
sunglasses that don’t seem to be symmetrical…
I’m reading the comments on Twitter. Over 90% think this pic is fake. If it was real it would be splashed all over the front pages of all the British newspapers and none of them have run it.
It looks like a bad double. Or it may be Pippa. It doesn’t look remotely like Kate.
I actually think the UK papers not publishing this was part of the play to garner sympathy because they’re all taking the tack that they won’t publish to respect the privacy she requested and it makes it look like it’s the Americans fault.
I’ll bet that when she’s ready to reappear, the papers that played ball will all get a nice exclusive photo of her return and maybe some new story or details.
My guess would be that she was leaving Peggington. She is likely coming back into the fold if she is allowing a pap shot. Sort of like Charlene with that horrid little fellow she’s married to. She disappeared for a while before he was able to convince her to go back to him.
Maybe, like Melania, Kate has been renegotiating the terms of her post-marriage compensation. And refuses to do any events until that is settled.
Exactly. Or else Will would be driving her. This is the Middletons sending a message.
At least she’s alive and not in a coma… good for her and her children…
Yes, agreed and like @bisynaptic, I’ll stop myself from speculating. Although, if close-up pics aren’t flattering, I can totally relate to sticking with grainy, far away ones.
I happened across the pics 20 mins after they were posted and I have been cackling ever since. They really called up TMZ to do a proof of life pap drive! I’m both amazed they caved so quickly, and amazed it took them this long. Should have done it last week, or earlier, before the story took off across the world. Even my boomer co-workers were joking about her going missing.
Yes! Why not just have a few thank-you statements from her? We got some nonsense about how she’s working from bed. How can they possibly be this bad??? And TMZ 🙄 You think the british media are mad they didn’t get called up?
Why “Boomers”, Jessica?
I agree. I am a Boomer and am into this story as much as any of you!
Oh my god–they are so bad at this! They waited until the speculation was at a fever pitch, then finally release this grainy photo?
At this point, half of people will think Fake Melania got a new gig across the pond & the other half will be like…so why was she hidden away for so long if she looks fine?
KP is stubbornly sticking to “NOT TIL AFTER EASTER I RLY MEAN IT” and Carole wants to weasel her way into breaking news. My best guess.
Put me on team “Faux Melania got a new gig.” 😁
@MinorityReport…I have to agree. Lets look at the facts: picture of mother and daughter Mom completely clear and looking pissed af, daughter very grainy and also looking pissed af. The shape of the face and mouth are 100% Pippa. Something shady going on here
Well, that points to negotiation tactics, right?
On the other hand, the Spanish journalist was so vehement in defending the news about the coma. How long does it take to get up again after an induced coma? And didn’t the Queen also have several doubles? I once saw a report about it. So maybe they have that as standard.
Could be the social media talk? Could be her uncle that she had to break cover? Is it Will is trying to get the divorce later on
It’s something cause why be papped now
Where’s Rebecca English thought William will move the 🌎 to be with his wife?
Why are both Mom and daughter now being seen? Why couldn’t she go to the 🏥
She should be able to say something or release a statement or just post the two 🌹 that she’s received
I’ll agree she And her Mom looks uhm not the best but at least all the talk will calm down a bit
Also go to show she can’t keep attention long do you see she’s already mid point on the top page of the daily fail. It’s wasn’t even the top story
She’s not in a coma now, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t before? Concha said it was medically-induced so those tend to be brief I think? Anyway, even if it was severe and serious why not just be upfront?? “The surgery went well but there were some post-surgical complications that will make her recovery longer. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.”
I was in a medically induced coma and was up the day after coming out of it. 2 more days in hospital making sure all was OK then home.
You can be OK within a few days of an induced coma, it just all depends on the person, age and the condition and reason why they were put in the induced coma to begin with. When someone is put under like that it’s because their vitals are not stable and could and would most likely die without the help and medication of medical equipment and drugs.
These grainy pics are as reliable as ufo sightings.
I echo. I can’t believe how gullible people can be.
Ladies, I concur… Something is off with this pic. What I would encourage everyone to do is to put on their best private detective hat and pose to themselves some of the questions already being asked — They went to foreign news source to give these pics — tmz for godsakes *eyeroll*. Why? Will & the children are no where around. You would think will would be driving or sitting in the back or something. why? Where is her security detail? That is the biggest thing weirding me out. why? Kate has an entire media team at her disposal with kp resources. So why a grainy photo taken so far away so as not to distinguish detailed facial features? Why not take a pic in the comfort of her home since she is so ill? None of this is making sense. And while the woman in the car favors Kate, the face is rounder, the jawline isn’t right and something just doesn’t look quite right.
Now i’m not saying this is what is being done, butttt there is a technology where they can create a facial mask that looks like a true face. (think tom cruise mission impossible movies). This is a real life legit thing. Do your own research. There was some cia youtube video on it. It is crazy expensive but it is used and done. Not saying that is what they did here but why take blurry far away pics? It is very suspicious to me like they are trying to hide something.
There’s almost nothing you can’t fake at this point, so a picture of Kate isn’t even the issue, especially a grainy low res picture. It’s the lack of information.
@sobiewski
I use this app called Reface to graft my face onto other people. It’s just for shits and giggles. Like, what would I look like if I was styled like Beyoncé. It’s very believable.
I think the only fake thing about this photo is the quality: It looks like it has a grainy type of filter laid over the original. No one can convince me that modern professional cameras shoot this sht, esp when it’s a set-up, as this obviously is.
It absolutely is Kate, though I also think she looks bloated from meds.
Why is it Carole instead of William? Because a big question was alongside “where’s Kate” also “where are the Midds, esp Carole?”, so this is killing two birds with one stone. Not that Willnot cares to be seen with Cannot, but that’s not the reason.
1. Five and a half tires under the car 2. Shadows wrong under car 3. One side grainy, one side clear. 4. Rain on hood despite sunny day 5. Close up of sunglasses show cheek but no eyes 6. Missing mole 7. Puffy face could be steroids or superimposed AI.
SUS AF
I think the “extra tire” is actually a tree trunk.
The extra tire is not a tree trunk. It is a result of what is called clone stamping in photoshop. If you know you know. I have done it countless times and it is unmistakable here.
We are seriously in X-Files “I want to believe!” territory. The photo being this grainy is…what I expect from Cannot and Willnot.
Why only ONE photo? Don’t photogs keep on clicking…like 30-60 A min.? Only One picture!!! Something’s just wrong!
Pippa vs Kate? It could be either.
Her jawline is different. As Sam said, she is very puffy. Commenters on X are saying it’s not her. (Where is her security, for starters?) But obviously, the Royals knew she had to be seen or the conspiracy theories would get even worse. Or maybe it’s because Camilla is ditching Chuckie to fly private to go get some massages (or, ahem, dry out) at some international spa far from her horses. WTAF? Who leaves their partner during cancer treatment? This family is a mess.
Her security being missing is odd, and where are the two “Filipino nurses” taking care of her round the clock?
If her mother was doing the school run, what is William doing with his 2 months off?
If Kate can sit in a car comfortably, why couldn’t she do a zoom or pose for a photo or write a thank you card?
I was thinking the same thing…. Where the heck is her security detail? Very odd… I’m half and half on if it is her or a really good body double. The face is plumper after all but the smirk is the same.
I think we all knew this was coming -things had gotten WAY out of hand. Agree she looks puffy. They both look unhappy with the assignment though. And is Uncle Gary on his reality show starting tonight? Also wondering if Cam was sent away so Willie can be more front and center this week.
Why would she release a grainy photo to TMZ of all places. I find that very strange. You would think that the UK would be out with this as breaking new. I asked Mary Pester if it was in the news over there and she said she couldn’t find it anywhere. I know it’s later in the Uk but come on that would be breaking news. Are they just testing the water to see what kind of comments are made here in the USA?
The article was in Daily Mail here in UK minus the grainy photo. Very odd
And the Daily Mail is not allowing any comments……hmmmmmmmm!!!
I looked for it and couldn’t find anything but that was a bit ago. Is it just put up and they are catching up with it being on TMZ? It’s all so very strange to go to TMZ. Like i said elsewhere if they wanted international coverage then why TMZ why not Reuters or even have it announced on BBC. I’m sure any big legit news organization would have been happy to announce it. TMZ is fishy as f**k.
And just one grainy pic…why not a series of shots since the whole thing was staged and arranged and the pap was obviously standing right at the edge of the road per CarolE’s instructions. But at least she’s not in the coma anymore.
Yes, a single, poor resolution picture with no way of verifying when it was taken. How many different clear as crystal shots were taken of Kate pushing a shopping trolley like a good little housewife years ago?
They have poor instincts and blew this. They should have had a formal message to thank her doctors for their help and the public for their concern and perhaps even a cheeky add a joke acknowledging the wilder theories. That would have set a cap upon all the SM clowning this past weekend and shut down a great deal of speculation. Instead they’ve just handed over a photo SM will riff on and make more jokes with while making the British Rota absolutely livid.
This is a great point. We can practically make a video of the photos the photographers who were at the Invictus event a couple of weeks ago took and immediately uploaded to many formats. One grainy shot is so fucking stupid, in 2024.
I thought it was next-level petty to give it to TMZ, cause they’re mad that the British press was throwing a fit last week. I saw on the DM that they can’t run the photo because the palace has filed a complaint about the photo so it can’t be published in the UK. Again. NEXT LEVEL PETTY.
The Palace filed a legal complaint because people can see that they’ve all been lying and making excuses for why neither of them is working? Omg.
The entire world can see this photo, including people in UK on social media.
“they can’t run the photo because the palace has filed a complaint about the photo so it can’t be published in the UK”
Oh really…?
Buckle up your seatbelt it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
😂😂😂
Or as the Daily Mail framed it: “The pictures were published by US gossip website TMZ but not in the UK after Kensington Palace appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private.”
LOL.
@ArtFossil methinks ” the palace” wants to control the narrative and rogue pap photos are stopping them from doing so. It’s too late for that though. Nothing to stop TMZ from keeping it published and these pictures are all over social media already I’m sure. My 71-year-old mother texted me to tell me that she had been sighted before I came back to the site this afternoon. I don’t know if they are actually in the midst of divorce negotiations, but I think this shows that they are not on the same page at all. This is not a cohesive household.
Rebecca English tweeting these photos are unauthorized. So that’s the party line from the palace. KP is big mad.
This confirms, to me, that we are in the age of duality at KP. She absolutely must be seen, but she absolutely cannot be seen by people in the U.K., because we are going to keep pretending we are too precious, and hope they fall for it.
It’s almost Black Adder Baldrick “I have a cunning plan” ……. Which has gone tits up, so thick (and angry) Willie is now throwing a strop and filing a legal complaint. It’s NEVER his fault when his plans go wrong is it? Always someone else to blame.
DM says they were returning from the school run lol. So I guess William’s been lying.
Returning from the school run with no protection officers…and no kids?
What? Will was making his sick wife do the school runs all this time? Wow, what a guy!
With. No. Protection. Officers.
O.K.
The Daily Mail said “The photos were taken shortly before 9am, suggesting the mother and daughter were returning from the school run.”
They are hedging their bets–with a 24 ft hedge.
So if Kate and Carole are doing the school runs and William didn’t have an event today, we can assume William has not actually doing all the school runs as he’s been saying. Bc how many stories have we heard that he does it every day he’s not working.
@Jais, don’t be so mean and short-sighted! Clearly Cannot does the morning school run and Willnot does the afternoon school run, they alternate every day like the hands-on parents they are! The morning of this pic it was Willnot’s turn to sweep the floor and do the laundry.
@vic, ummm, but they said he was doing all the school runs. Was I supposed or interpret that symbolically rather than literally😂😂😂
If they were doing the school run it makes me think Kate and the kids are staying at bucklebury OR William is nowhere near. Adelaide (or both).
TMZ has been hoodwinked? Why would they get the scoop and not the invisible contract media? Did the invisible contract demand to see Kate themselves, i.e., in-person, and was denied?
Because the Middletons leaked it to get around KP, Joffrey and the contract.
I don’t believe for one second, the palace claim that this was unauthorized. I do not believe that Carol would do anything without their approval.
This is hinky AF. I’m guessing she has no access to KP letterhead anymore and this was the best she and Carole could do.
I could see that.
I’m glad to know that she’s ok. I hope the kids are ok too. Happy to return to my regularly scheduled programming — although I’ll be curious to see how Easter goes.
The woman in that picture looks “okay” to you?
She looks ok enough — given that I was imagining a coma, or worse.
A nice formal pic, video, or statement would inspire way more confidence than this. An honest official update on her health would have been good. This is…chaos?
Yes, it’s chaos — and unnecessary chaos at that. My bar was set really really low for this though, so I’m fine with a pretend pap photo indicating proof of life, and I’m assuming that this is really Kate, absent solid evidence otherwise.
But why so grainy? It looks like it was shot with a 25-year-old Polaroid? A photographer on Twitter put it into Photoshop and removed the distortion and the result was a crisp photo…that didn’t look a lot like Kate. That makes me think the graininess was intentional. That’s not a pic that was originally shot in poor light or low speed – otherwise you wouldn’t be able to get a crisp image out of it. The pixels just wouldn’t be there. Well maybe if it was AI I guess. Also it’s being reported that the pic came from a pap agency, not some Joe on the street which might explain the poor quality.
If anyone else looks at the photo with the grainy distortion removed, what do you think? Does she have black/bruised eyes visible under the sunglasses?
Where are the distortion-free photos?
I found the photo with the filter removed posted in the comments under Christopher Bouzy’s tweet on the photo.
This confirms that Team Kate and Team Will are very much a separate family. Or their comms offices are, at least. Carole has been blacklisted by the rota, hence having to run to Page Six with that first statement and now TMZ with this.
Obviously Kate wasn’t thrilled with how Will and KP are handling her absence and she decided she had to act for herself.
But the story is sappy toward William, claiming he’s keeping Kate “by his side” by visiting her once in the hospital and then … going back to work.
I mean, why suck up to. William? What did TMZ get in return?
I fully believed abdominal surgery and then post surgical complications coupled with not wanting to be seen looking ill…totally get that. But now I think botched botox because that eyebrow is way above the large sunglasses.
The more I look, the more I think maybe Bell’s Palsy or a stroke?
7th cranial nerve is linked to drugs and stress yes, but Botox easily fixes the muscles and you’d never know a stroke or bell pasy in the rich. I’ve seen 3 chicks in their 30/s morph to perfection from the bells and be fixed by therapy same as stroke in the rich, I got a few old birds in my nursing home still get neurotoxin to even out their faces lol nurses get ahold of cosmetic surgery and lip flips. Men actually like older woman and are disgusted by the thoughts and cost. Anyways 🙂 that’s my thoughts
She had very post-stroke-like facial features on the Caribbean tour. Maybe this is a recurring problem?
Suspect timing, imo-just announced Meghan would be at opening panel of SXSW w/other power women so Kate finally emerges? No security is interesting. TMZ broke this and Page Six got the comment from KP-rota must be mad!
She was never at adelaide, and WHERE is the security detail and her bangs??? If and I think it’s a big if, this was taken today, then they have fkd up big time. The British media and the British people are going to want to know why and how the American media had it first. And why she’s seen the day her uncle is going into cbb. Did carol call them, and why is her mother and not her husband driving her. Where are the children, but again, WHERE IS THE SECURITY DETAIL
@Mary Pester. Yes to all of that but again why TMZ? If she wanted international press then go to Reuters not to a gossip outlet. But better yet why not a reputable British paper or BBC . What’s her end game here. Is she wanting a better pay out for a divorce?
@susanCollins, yes Susan, why the American press, questions has answered itself. Payback to willy, payback to Charlie and camzilla, THIS if it’s her, is the real Kate, the one she kept carefully hidden from the public. The great white that will rip to shreds anyone she deems a threat to her popularity or her good press coverage. The one who HATES being told what to do Let’s see what happens now uncle Gary is bragging on national television that he is the future queen of England’s uncle, and THAT is exactly how he introduced himself. No Gary, your the uncle of the woman who THOUGHT she would be queen.
@Mary Pester. Uncle Gary is saying that. Is he trying to tell Peg no divorce or is he trying to get her a better deal hmm.. so many questions.
Because Reuter’s and the like would ask too many questions– want to verify things. Also I think TMZ is associated with “hollywood” and we know that’s a thing for them.
How do we know that either of the women in that automobile are who they purported to be? Someone paid highly for this photo and it’s quite possible that either or both is a “look alike”. In this case it may be more of a “look similar”.
Kate’s life is a case study in “be careful what you wish for because you might get it.” She hasn’t looked comfortable or happy in years.
Mary Pester, she messed up IMO. IF, I said IF, this is her, it shows that she was more than capable of sending out a message of thanks to the Drs and nurses, and the public for well wishes. Why didn’t she think of that? I’m in the camp that doesn’t think this is her. The face shape is wrong.
If she can sit in a moving vehicle after abdominal surgery, she certainly could have sat in a comfortable chair with soft lighting for a photo. I guess the Mids wanted to pretend it was an accidental pap photo rather than one they sent to the tabloids w/o William’s permission. I wouldn’t be shocked if it was not her, however.
No matter what she does she will be criticized. If she looks good she’ll be criticized for not working. If she doesn’t look good she will be criticized and scrutinized. It’s no win. If this is her, it’s alarming. Her facial features are distorted. That is upsetting, even if you know it will get better. I hope she’s ok.
Criticized by whom, memories? I find it quite interesting that a woman who has, for at least the past six years, benefited from extremely favorable coverage, is suddenly afraid to do something as basic as telling the truth about her medical condition, because, fear of criticism. What criticism did Charles receive after posting a video, reading get-well cards? You actually believe that a 2-month absence from public life can be explained away by a grainy photo, from a woman who puts on makeup and high heels for a photo call, within hours of giving birth?
Why so much anger about a woman who seems to be ill? If this is her, she looks ill. She is not Charles — she can make different decisions. Let her recover without second guessing her. I find all this harping on her very sad.
I mean that’s kind of on Kensington Palace for having piss poor comms. People are being critical because their behavior is the antithesis of their previous behavior in actions and words when it could be used as a stick to beat another couple with. That aside they have an active blueprint on how to handle this issue with THE senior royal at this moment. They are shifty and the things they say don’t make sense. People aren’t wrong, or “angry” to say they screwed this up.
@memories No matter how you feel about it, the reality is Most people don’t get to take off work due to facial swelling. Including public figures.
This puts them in a really bad spot, because it raises questions about why neither she nor William were working for 2.5 months.
If she’s doing a school run as DM suggested, she is well enough to send a statement and a thank you card.
This is literally her job, for which she is paid millions along with free houses, jet travel, vacations, schooling for her kids, nannies and more.
memmories, I see what the matter is, you’ve confused her with the Duchess of Sussex. No matter what Meghan does, it’s wrong. KHate on the other hand, always puts her best foot forward. Remember?
Hi memories. I think the gist of most of the reactions on here is – good, she’s OK. It seems an odd thing to have done, which has obviously caused a flurry of reactions and questions, which they should’ve anticipated, but at base people are saying: she’s looks very ill, let’s hope for a recovery, and thankfully she’s alright (as right as can be expected now).
The Spanish story said she had been in a coma post-op, not that she was still in it at the time they reported, so I think it’s still likely that happened. My theory has been that she had a post-op stroke. There’s something about her face that looks a little frozen/lopsided, and the graininess of the pic could be trying to conceal that.
But they said right at the outset – before the surgery – that she’d be out of action this long. It’s not a change post surgery.
There’s really no proving that she left the hospital when they said she did. Could have been more recent and she stayed longer than 2 weeks as originally outlined after some complications. Or she could have had surgery earlier than they said and released a statement after she was more in the clear. The long recovery timeline at home could be to account for some of the things others have mentioned, like a stoma or something that she doesn’t want to be seen in public with.
We don’t know that the original KP statement was truthful about when she had the surgery 🤷♀️
oh look she’s alive. hopefully this is enough for ppl asking for proof of life. but i bet there will still be wild conspiracy theories out there: lookalike actress! or this is all a ruse for a divorce and she took the kids. or she’s actually dead and they resurrected her thru sacrificial magic (my fav). can we put the pressure on why pedo andrew is still getting a pass than policing someone that doesn’t wanna parade around while the still got stitches and a recently open abdomen?
Seconding turning the spotlight on Paedrew. Feeling free to also ask where the healthy members of the family are. Side-eyeing Camzilla needing to leave the country and W’s lack of presence. And yes, leave KC and K alone to heal at the moment.
If it’s so clear that she’s alright, than why the grainy photo? What are they trying to hide? Why according to you, it’s untoward for people to question a blurry drive-by photo, after not having seen Kate for over 2 months?
@anna
Great point.
ana, speaking as someone who had an open abdomen to have about 3″ of my small intestine removed, I was back to work FULL TIME (40 hour work week) at 6 weeks. Please.
If this is really her in the car, then what excuse are you giving her to not thank the medical staff and the public for their concern? A simple statement would be all that was needed. No. One. Word.
Blimey! Talk about rough.
I’m not a K fan, but I’m finding it kind of cruel that they had her papped being driven by her mother instead of just releasing a photo where she’d be more comfortable. Given the reported circumstances of her operation and recovery period, and that K in the picture is not recognizable, why would they do this to her? Let her recover and get W back to work.
Probably because Will would rather get day drunk and yell at the press that they can’t give orders to him than being a little more transparent to the public about Kate’s absence. It is bad that they had to do that, but it is the hate & mockery industry they fed for years now with Meghan stories. I am telling every time, once you release hate out there into the universe, one day it will come for you too.
@ML
Waity gets the cruelness she gives.
Zero sympathy.
A question: Omid Scobie said that the news outlet that said Kate and Charles talked about Archie’s possible skin color was incorrect and not in the released version of his book, right? So if that was noted as not the case, then why do so many act as if that’s something they did say? And said negatively? Thinking, talking and guessing about what a baby might look like in a positive way isn’t unusual. But am I wrong here?
@anima, umm I am gonna believe you are serious and not a troll. Omid said, he didn’t want to publish the names on his book because of the legal reasons and didn’t put himself on the book, but early draft by the publisher sent to the translator. He also said everyone in the british press already knew about the names, so all these years they were calling H&M liars even though they knew who said what.
Charles and Kate didn’t talk about it in a positive way because Meghan said there were “concerns” about the skin color of H&M baby and what that would mean for the monarchy. How does someone get concerned about unborn baby’s skin color in a positive way? Why would you be so puzzled with BRF being racist while we know they didn’t protect Meghan & Archie against racist coverage, racist comments on their official social media pages? Why are you giving them the benefit of the doubt while they did nothing to earn it?
@sevenblue…asked bc I was honestly uninformed. I didn’t know it was just something that was known but removed from the book before publication for legal reasons. And talking in a positive way about baby’s skin color is being in hopeful denial. But there’s no denying the British media’s racism and the BRF colonialist/racist past. Wishful thinking they were evolving?
Denise, I have no relationship with K, she’s been mean, but I pity her.
I do know people who have gone through major health issues and it’s awful. I would not want someone I love to think that K’s health issues are her getting what she deserves and thinking “but what about me?”
When she’s recovered, if she continues to be mean, I have no issue going after that.
@ML — there has been no attempt to publish photos of her looking comfortable, hence the grainy pap photo from a hundred yards away. She is recovering and William is nowhere to be seen. Once again, this was likely staged in reaction to all the conjecture about what actually happened.
If it was all cause he wanted to prove he didn’t beat her up, then I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.
Jaded, They completely mishandled the situation. I still find it cruel to have someone who is having major health problems be papped in a car to prove she’s alive and recovering the way to go about it! That’s all kinds of horrible to me.
On a more personal note, I wish you the best in your fight against bladder cancer and hope that you recover well!
Yes. The most credible and sympathetic story re her disappearance has come from commenters sharing their own difficulties with uncomfortable recovery from abdominal surgery.
So they prop her up Weekend at Bernie’s style to be jostled around in a car, on a completely gratuitous trip, where attention can focus on it not looking much like her because her face is bloated by steroids?
That seems like three levels of abuse.
Hannah1, well there was no security, so who was it that did this? It sounds like it was her own idea and she was aided by her Mom. (If that’s her.)
Okay, now I have to see ‘Weekend at Bernie’s”!
Perhaps the Princess has had a facelift? Not abdominal surgery. Nothing is what it seems.
It’s her, looking rough. Mom looks pissed. What a mess but someone in those palaces is lying.
Gotta add it’s extremely tacky and definitely giving panic the way they’re handling this. The minor royals are partying in Bahrain and taking private jets with Jeremy Clarkson, Camilla needs a break after a few extra engagements, Will is basically AWOL and drinking for photo ops, and they’re trotting out one if Liz’s creaky octogenarian cousins for duty. Dumpster fire.
I was disappointed to see Eugenie and her husband partying with Jeremy Clarkson. How can this man not be a persona-non-grata after what he said about Meghan?
@Jackie – the palace didn’t release a statement about her surgery and/or the recovery period until a day after the surgery had already occurred. If she had a stroke and/or other operative or post operative complications, likely they occured in the time between the surgery and when the statement was released. Tbh, im not sure if the palace would have released a statement at all about her surgery if the surgery itself was a routine one without a very extensive recovery time – it could actually be the stroke and/or other complications that caused them to have to release a statement to the public at all.
I think this is very plausible – KP was never planning on issuing a statement about the surgery, even if it was as significant as a bowel resection or something, but something happened after the surgery (stroke, coma) that put her recovery in doubt so they had to release that statement. Kate missing a month or two of work isn’t a big deal. Kate missing three to four months or more would raise eyebrows.
Even this week the questions haven’t been because Kate wasn’t seen since January 17. They were because she hadn’t been seen since 12/25.
Is it only obvious to me? Grainy photo because they don’t want people to analyze her face too much. Maybe, she got some puffiness because of the drugs or something. They probably made a deal for one, grainy photo to stop the conspiracies. I will say, it seems to me Will’s team was still trying to ignore, ignore and Kate & her mother organized this because the conspiracies were getting too much.
I don’t know if Kate is divorced from William yet but it sure as heck appears she is divorced from Kensington Palace. They are only together on paper.
Hmmm, your last sentence. The statement last week was terse and they were very firm about not giving an update. The article said “Kate’s reps” and I thought maybe it was her camp acting independently but it could’ve been KP being firm about giving no updates (for whatever reason) and THIS is Kate and her mom acting on their own. This level of confusion/unforced errors can only come from teams working in silos.
The hilarious part is that unless you were standing out there with your 35 mm kodak that grandma gave you for Xmas in middle school, you have to photoshop a high res image to look that grainy.
@Bettyrose. This is exactly my main suspicion as well, that and the lack of protection officers. These days you have to work to get a photo that bad, I think the grain was added in post-production.
Neither the Midds nor KP are saying this is Kate, just letting the suspicion that it is hang out there. They then have plausible deniability no matter what is revealed later. I honestly hope she is well and recovering, but I just don’t trust any of this gang of thieves and no trick or lie is beneath them.
This is NOT her.
That was my first thought too.
Agreed. It’s Pippa — it’s Pippa’s hairline.
I’m inclined to think the same – the woman in this picture appears to have a broader nose tip. Kate’s nose is pointier than Pippa’s.
On Twitter there is a pic of Pippa side by side with this pic. Pippa has the same coat and sunglasses, it looks like. I think it’s Pippa, photoshopped a bit.
I want to believe it’s Kate bc I want her and the kids to be ok. Of course she might look changed from lack of exercise or medication or a different food regime. But the lack of a security detail is perplexing. Complexion, hairline and jawline, even the shape of the mouth, are closer to Pippa’s. (Kate’s face is round-ish, more like her father). If she’s so disfigurated by illness, her condition is still no good and it’s understandable she wanted to steer away from cameras. Most likely she isn’t/wasn’t able to speak properly.
But if she’s going to make it, nothing prevented from stopping wild speculation by feeding AI with Kate’s actual pics, come up with a convalescing photo and embed a sweet message on it.
Looks as real as Weekend at Bernie’s … honestly, the grainy photo is only going to spur more conspiracy theories.
Christopher Bouzy posted this on Twitter: “Was this taken with a 50-year-old Polaroid camera? There are digital toy cameras that take better photos than this. The grain looks like it was added post.”
The comments are hilarious: This is Kate from Temu … or Shein … or it’s Pippa … or Ozzy Osbourne.
Kate from Temu?! HAhahahahahahaaha!!
I think it’s her but no William? That would’ve been easy “supportive husband” points. They’re definitely separated and Team Middleton is hunkered down for whatever reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if this surgery was tied into her going on strike while a separation agreement was renegotiated al la Melenia.
Maybe it’s Melania who snuck in the front seat and has been negotiating a settlement for Kate all along.
If this was supposed to quiet the conspiracy theories, based on these comments, it’s an epic fail. And are the British royals now using TMZ as a press agency? It sorta looks like Kate, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
I think this is Pippa.
That was my first thought too, that it was Pippa. I hope Kate is ok.
My first thought too — and then I looked at photos, and it’s her hairline, not Kate’s.
Definitely. Glance at the picture quickly and your subconscious will register Pippa, not Kate.
The media have been yanking that chain HARD if they managed to get Kate & Carole out for a pap shot.
This is annoying all the same: KP/Kate could have managed this a lot better. Now they’re clearly being made to jump, because they’ve pished off too many people.
Uncle Gary’s premiere tonight, even Kaiser came back to us after links today, with this Hot Tea! They “British” can drop news anytime! What’s the stall! So proud of our Gal to report back to us so quick xo love you! This is a dumpster fire, and the 5 alarms bells have been warning for days about this blaze! TMZ? A Murdoch but American line? British princess no security. Harvey gets the one grainy pic. Moms and mumbles did this but for what? Gary? Wank on willies chain? Is this Murdoch with a threat is it KP united lol likly not WTF cams exit was for this side show? Are they all against William? Moms looks pissed and stressed Kate looks like she’s recovering swollen face, round sore nose. Glad she is alive. But this may not be today we should check the weather in Windsor. What is the publication time compared to British time? When were these sold, taken and reported? I’m watching tmz live hope Harvey is smug enough to give us anything
The sun does look low in the reflection and on the east for sure- so maybe 10- 11am dragging with the 70degree sun right now. Car has moisture on the hood not rain but the just started kind of water rolls. Think it would be in a car garage. Stagged for sure but why AND WHO Kp and Kate aren’t on the same page. Is this really unauthorized ? Then is this the press pushing in a foreign press DIVORCE? What does it all mean! The things I don’t know keep me up at night lol
I remember thinking that Nanny Maria looks something like Kate.
And I havebto back to our perennial question – how are they so bad at this?
My most burning question at the moment is, what did it cost to get Carole out for this?
Wow, both look pretty grim; probably p*ssed off at being forced to do a pap shot. That does not look like a comfortable car ride.
The only comment I have is that at least her mother is taking care of her , as she should .
Curious that Carole isn’t wearing sunglasses but Kate is? TMZ definitely wanted us to know that this was Carole…….not so sure about her passenger though…..
And TMZ? Really?
This is a Middleton move IMO. If it was KP, Will would be in the shot. I am sticking with the “she had a breakdown and now they are negotiating” stage because she and the Middletons clearly aren’t playing along with Will and his goons, or else the Middletons would have pretended to be visiting her at the hospital where she never was.
I’m going to have to agree with you here. Will’s behavior still screams to me that he feels guilty about something…He was/is unwell. The swaying and blinking were worrying. And w/e Kate is recovering from, he seems to have some hand in why she is recovering in the first place.
So Will tries to take an extended break and places the blame for this break on Kate, Kate doesn’t want any part of that, Middleton siblings are on vacation to make it seem like Kate’s case isn’t dire (Kate is not the problem) and now this sighting kinda confirms that for me.
They’re both lightweights and awful people which is why this entire situation has been bungled from the beginning to now.
And the rest of the Windsor family proceeds with their vacations because they also are not going to take on extra work when the heir can’t be bothered.
…..am I the only one who thinks that looks like Pippa?
I thought it looked more like Pippa too, but at the same time it’s clearly a staged shot, so you would think that whoever staged it (and it seems to be the Middleton’s since Carole is driving) would have alerted the photographer to whether or not it’s Kate or Pippa that would be in the car.
You’re almost there, Claire. 🙂
I also immediately thought it was Pippa. I still do. I don’t think the photo agency misidentified Kate, though. Pippa is body doubling.
It’s Kate’s nose tip, not Pippa’s. Kate’s has a distinctive knobble which is seen at its best front on, like here (the low lighting actually makes it even clearer because of the shadowing at the tip). I sound obsessed with the nose!, but it’s such a giveaway to me.
Ha! Exactly this!
I said this above, sorry, I wish I’d seen your comment first.
100% agree.
This, definitely, Kate, her nose shape, and there’s quite a large gap between her upper lip and nose, whereas Pippa has a smaller gap
Definitely not Pippa
Curiouser and curiouser..
the thing that started off my spidey sense was when William sounded so embarrassed / lying when he used his wife’s uh “illness” to account for being ill prepared at BAFTAS .. like he sounded embarrassed to be saying it .. I thought it might be because he knew she was having plastic surgery, but even that wouldn’t account for everything that happened afterwards
Something is so off, but I have no idea what is going on… But I know they’re lying big time
No, I also think it’s Pippa.
I wonder if Kaiser can see who the photographer was (photo agency is Backgrid). You probably need a subscription to view the image details. It would be interesting to know who took this photo.
OK if that is Kate, where is her mole? Maybe I am just missing it…?
Cleaned up picture on Twitter it looks even less like her – esp the nose
Is this really her?
@Avra55. I just typed what you are saying but I deleted mine in time. I thought the same thing when I saw the photo cleared up. Look at the hair too it shows many strands of grey looking hair. They couldn’t put a wig on her? It’s strange.
@Susan Collins. I noticed the hair too! Upon another look I am even less convinced. The face shape is Pippa…
Is it possible for someone to post that cleaned up picture from Twitter/X?
I don’t know how to do it or I would. I’m technically illiterate lol. I saw it on kaisers twitter page if that helps.
Thanks, Susan, I have no access to Twitter which is why I asked.
Her mole is so small it wouldn’t be visible in a grainy long-distance shot. What I see is something wrong with the background. The car is crystal clear, but Kate’s face and background woods are badly out of focus. Is this a photoshop effort?
@Jaded the photo has been cleaned up and the mole is not there.
@Susan Collins — can you provide a link to the cleaned up photos pls?
Jaded I wish I knew how I’m very technologically illiterate but I saw it on Kaisers twitter page where someone posted it. I hope it helps. Kaiser@celebitchy
There are five tires under the car! That’s the detail that puts me in the NOPE camp. I thought it was her at first, but, as some have suggested it could be an AI manipulated image.
The car was photoshopped onto the road. I wonder why?
With five and a half tires underneath! All signs point to WTH?
AI gives humans 6 fingers so I wonder if it’s an AI created photo “Carol Middleton driving Kate Middleton in a black Audi”.
That’s definitely Carole, lol. Will this pic be enough to take the heat off Pegs? No it will not.
Omfg he hasn’t even got in the house yet, and he’s already bragging to camera that he’s the future Queen’s uncle!! Charlie and Billy won’t be pleased
I love this for Chuck and Willileaks. I hope the trashy uncle embarasses them all the way down. LMAO!
The entire world is walking around with sophisticated photo technology and long range zoom in our pockets, but not the paps at TMZ?
Christopher Bouzy says the grainy part was applied after the fact. And there are five tires!
Anyone else think that looks like Pippa? Just me then?
Omg I am shook. Just saw the photo minus the distortion and I have * never* guessed it was any of the conspiracy theories but… she looks like she had a face lift.
It’s definitely not steroid face. Her forehead is tighter and the wrinkles are gone, jowls are gone and her brow isn’t so wonky. It’s not swollen so much as it is tighter and repositioned, unless it’s not her.
What is going on!?
I think it looks exactly like steroid face.
Well, to be fair, you’re trying to shut down any discussion of this photo, so you would say that.
I personally have never seen jowls disappear and a tighter jawline from steroids.
I would also say that because it’s true.
Her face is swollen. Full stop.
I see her jowls, especially in the cleaned up photos. Is it at all possible her wrinkles arent showing because the pic is far away? Or because her face is swollen?
@slush lol. You are the only person telling the “truth.” The rest of us need to obey you. Got it. Good luck with that!
Im not the only one saying it, nor am I saying you have to obey me? Obey what?
@slush, that’s you above comparing comments about this photo to q anon conspiracy.
You can try to gaslit and control people all you want, but the entire internet is asking questions. Have a good evening.
Yes. I am comparing a conspiracy theory to another conspiracy theory.
@slush right. You’re comparing people commenting on a grainy photo offered as proof of life after months to QAnon, which resulted in violent criminal incidents.
No one here has accused her of being anything remotely on par to a satanic, cannibalistic pedophile, which is the Q conspiracy.
That conflation is illogical. I wonder what has you so emotional that you think this is Q territory.
Brittanica on Q:
adherents believed that U.S. Pres. Donald Trump was waging a secret war against a cabal of satanic cannibalistic pedophiles within Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and the so-called “deep state” within the United States government. With the aid of social media platforms, the theory expanded in content and geographic reach in subsequent years and resulted in legal protests as well as several violent criminal incidents.
Did I ever say any of that? You keep misrepresenting my comments (and emotions) then arguing against those made up points.
The comment was deleted, but what I said was no matter what, the proof will never be enough for you. No matter what they say, it will never be enough. No matter what picture, you’ll think it’s photoshopped. THAT is like Qanon and literally every other conspiracy theory.
I’m happy to debate someone, but only if they debate what I actually said.
I didn’t accuse you of thinking or saying any of that. Ever.
What I said was some people’s refusal to accept any explanation or photo evidence, and instead clinging to conspiracy theory, was similar to QAnon (and literally every other conspiracy theory).
@Slush, the only thing that makes me unsure of it being steroids is what surgery requires steroids AFTERWARDS? They greatly slow healing, and every surgeon and medical doctor I’ve had has ensured my steroids are heavily weaned prior to major surgery.
(Speaking as a decades long UC/Crohns sufferer who has had countless steroid treatments as well as multiple “major abdominal surgeries”)
Where are the minus distortion photos? Can you provide a link pls?
Here you go, Jaded. And I hope your surgery goes well!
https://x.com/julie_in_the_oc/status/1764758901562769714?s=61&t=5OBHgS5IHpuBp4Ov0gMmtw
Thanks for the link, WiththeAmerican. Side by side you can see the difference in nose = it’s Kate’s nose not her sister’s.
@sparrow YW! I agree, it is Kate’s nose and her left eyebrow that goes up.
WiththeAmerican, I’m commenting here to say thank you for the information re lighting between the two seats. (My replies often land way down the threads because I’m not good at inserting them in the right place.) I hope you see this! That fixing of the light is fascinating to me. They’ve really gone to town on this photo. And Jaded – best of luck with your surgery. I know from other posts that your surgery has been upcoming for a while now – I hope it goes well. ps the over feature of Kate’s face that is consistent is the way she holds her mouth when it’s closed. It’s very much like a disapproving line, not just because her lips are thin, but because of her jaw shape.
That looks like Kate, compare the two mouths of the sisters and you’ll see that Kate’s is smaller and more compressed than Pippa’s.
There is no way to “clean up” an out of focus, grainy photo. If the “information” (pixels) in the original is missing or distorted, all you can do is extrapolate from what is there. Yes, you can do a very limited amount of sharpening or can adjust the contrast, but you’re still dealing with an out of focus, poorly lit, poor quality image and you can’t make that into a higher quality image as you’re just extrapolating (guessing) from what is there. Attempting to clean up this photo is just adding extrapolation upon extrapolation and distortion upon distortion. A “cleaned up” image is just as deceptive as this image.
Maybe that explains why it doesn’t look like her in the cleaned up version!
But I know AI removes noise etc now, and can restore super old grainy photos, so it is possible more than it used to be.
Thanks for this explanation. That makes sense.
Can someone help me with the lighting issue? I’m no good at this kind of thing. All I’m certain of is that it’s Kate because of her nose tip. However, how is there so much light on Carole while Kate is in so much darkness? I know the light is slanting in from one side, but it is such a dramatic cut off between one car seat and the next. Has the photographer done this as part of the pap shot promise, ie we’ll keep the focus more on your mother and put you in gloom so people can’t see you so much?
@sparrow professional photographers have said noise was added, and that is what they supposedly reduced to get the clearer photo but I agree with you that the lighting change coupled with the distortion on only Kate’s side is weird.
It seems obvious that whoever called the pap asked them to add some noise to Kate’s side of the car, probably to hide how swollen her face is.
Could this be an AI generated picture with Kate as an insertion into a picture of Carole driving? Would that explain the lighting disparity?
@sparrow: Yes, the photo “appears” to have the sun low in the sky, illuminating the right side of Carole’s face. I can’t say whether it’s odd that the passenger has no illumination on her. That could be the condition of the lighting. Or, of course, the passenger could have been added in. But the photographer “probably” didn’t create the apparently natural light shining on Carole’s face.
Without forensic analysis and authentication, photos are very poor evidence.
@midnight (love your user name!) for sure, AI generated images and video are everywhere right now and it’s only going to get worse. So that’s a very plausible caveat. Though the sunlight hitting one side of the car and not the other is normal.
While I believe TMZ would let themselves be fooled for clicks, I don’t believe Backgrid would.
Of course, we don’t know who took this photo. Is it a regular pap or some random?
@ArtFossil – so this – “There is no way to “clean up” an out of focus, grainy photo.”
means that every episode of Law and Order has lied to me, lol.
You can’t really make a judgment from those sharpened images. The odd thing about the original images on TMZ is the location has been changed. I can clearly see that there is photoshopping in numerous places along the ground and in the background. Where it was taken is the issue. She likely isn’t home at all.
I haven’t looked at TMZ. Here’s the photo I saw, which is weird because as a commenter said, the photographer was right in front of the car and yet it’s so grainy?
https://x.com/cansufcbmg/status/1764756106859913702?s=61&t=5OBHgS5IHpuBp4Ov0gMmtw
I know the image has been futzed with but if you look at the left sunglasses lens (stage left) of the noise removed photo it looks like someone in a light colored jacket is standing in front of the vehicle.
I was referencing the image where you can see the entire car. It is photoshopped extensively. I cannot see photoshopping of Kate’s image, but the car and other things. If I can I will post with details. It appears to have been taken from quite a distance. You also can’t make much of a determination about DPI, as images are published in low resolution. Also, the car is not moving in the full image. It is parked in the full image, not in motion.
I was replying to @WiththeAmerican about the “cleaned up” image and the photographer. There wasn’t a way to reply directly to their comment.
I know what you mean @poppedbubble. When you remove noise or sharpen, it changes the image. A dark ish area can become very very dark. I would completely discount the sharpened images.
I do think it’s Kate. It’s just a long distance shot zoomed in, pixelated and she doesn’t look as “polished” as she completely does – completely understandable since she’s got an illness.
I’m more surprised TMZ got the exclusive (I think). You’d think KP would rather go to the Sun/Mail/Times/Telegraph. And I knew TMZ had connections but I didn’t realise they extended to the UK lol. But I suppose once Harvey realised how “big” the first photo of Kate would be, he wanted to be the one to have it.
The photo is credited to BackGrid. So I’m assuming BackGrid is an international agency. So we are to assume that TMZ, an American gossip site, was so desperate for the first proof of life picture of Kate, they put an APB out to the first photographer (who conveniently happened to be be staked out in the exact spot on Windsor grounds) to deliver said picture?
I was wondering the same thing..why TMZ?
Maybe its as simple as TMZ paid the most when BG shopped it around and KP didnt care who got it as long as it was out?
Alternatively, British Media is honoring the invisible contract and TMZ didnt care?
I think it’s TMZ because this photo shoot was arranged by the Middleton’s (probably going rogue) without the palace’s approval, and they couldn’t use a UK tabloid, because all the UK tabloids are in the pocket of the royal family, and likely would have either refused and/or leaked back to their palace sources that Carole was shopping around a staged pap shot of her and Kate to quell the rumours. So she went straight to TMZ instead, who is not beholden to the palace and wouldn’t mean to the palace that she was arranging a pap shot. Let’s also not forget that Caroles name and the Middleton’s in general have also been dragged through the mud over this whole thing (questions re: why haven’t they been visiting her, why aren’t we hearing from them, etc.). It may be very possible that they’re all under a gag order as part of separation/divorce negotiations and that their silence has been bought be the palace, so arranging something like a pap shot is one of the only ways that Carole can get her narrative out there while still having some sort of plausible deniability about being behind the shot. It’s interesting that she’s driving Kate and not William for example, and also that it was reported that this was taken on the school run – Carole (and Kate) might want to put out there that yes, Kate’s family is taking care of her and is involved and hasn’t abandoned her, that Kate is not in a coma or dead, and that William is in fact not doing the school run or caring for Kate.
Well, this is grim. If this is a real photo and not photoshopped. This just gives me a weird feeling. I mean, Carole looks like she is on an espionage mission behind enemy lines, and the passenger looks like a cross between Pippa and Kate. And they both give off a feeling like something catastrophic has happened. Whatever happened, I think divorce was in the mix. Or will be. Obvs, KP doesn’t know how to manage media, but they really, I think, don’t know how to say that Will is divorcing or separating without him looking COMPLETELY awful. But yes, Liz, I thought Pippa also, but not quite.
So let me get this straight….the day your utterly deplorable uncle begins his foray on a national reality show and your bullying target , the Duchess of Sussex, is announced as a keynote speaker at SXSW, your “recovery cabin fever” propels you to do a school run that is serendipitously photographed and is only (and can only) be published in American papers. MMmkay.
Dear KP, Carry on with this beautiful disaster. “You’re doing amazing, sweetie” -Kris Jenner
Bravo. Chef’s kiss. No notes.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
No comment regarding Kate other than I’m glad she appears to be okay and I wish her a speedy recovery.
Now, let’s talk about William and his PR game. Was this photo release to an American gossip site (Murdoch owned) a jab at the Daily Mail and other British tabloids? Friends of William were quoted the other day as saying “ KP doesn’t answer to the Daily Mail.” There’s been a simmering battle between the BM and William/KP over this entire “what’s happening with Kate” drama. Is this a way of sticking the middle finger to the BM? What is happening?
So there does seem to be friction bw William and the DM. But they’re not the only tab in town. I think KP is good with the Sun and the Times, both owned by Murdoch. So, like some of the comments upthread suggest, I’m leaning more towards this was possibly Kate and her mom going rogue. Maybe? Idk. It’s all weird. Why not have Kate in a pic with William? KP was very firm in saying they wouldn’t give extra info and a picture like this is extra info. Did William really fold and help stage this? It’s hard to imagine.
Came back to say that I forgot TMZ is also Murdoch-owned so maybe William did have something to do with the pic? I’m still leaning towards Middleton’s going rogue. But alternately, after making his pouty not budging statement to the DB, William maybe decided to stage a photo but didn’t want to lose face so arranged it with a US based Murdoch company?
Willileaks wasn’t involved in this. This is all Middleton. Big yikes.
I will say that I don’t think it’s Pippa. Girlfriend has too much going on in her own life with her own family to bother pretending to be her sister.
The picture doesn’t do much to dispel any existing rumours. Where’s the time and date? Where’s the photog who took it? Why couldn’t it have been a message from Kate on Instagram? They could have staged a B&W photo and basically photo shopped it to their hearts content. Could have even barely shown her face.
It’s just bizarre and weird.
I don’t think it’s Pippa, either – it’s the nose end; Kate’s nose has a very knobbly off kilter tip when seen front on. (It’s always what makes me wonder why Kate’s nose is the nose of choice for cosmetic surgery clients.) Sad really that she couldn’t do a proper, more dignified and less sensational appearance through a proper outlet; this raises more questions than answers and will have the is it/isn’t it gossip running wild. DM isn’t even running comments, or the picture. At least she’s OK. I don’t know whether Carole’s been told to looked pissed off, like she’s been caught off guard and it’s a genuine photo, or it’s real and she’s both pissed off and driving into light, giving her a squinting look. I think it’s Kate and a set up to end the rumours.
I think a famous person who is ill and whose face looks very puffy, but has an army nannies to do the school run, wouldn’t be out with her mother doing the school runs herself if she knew there’s a high chance of being papped with having an unattractive face. At the very least, she would be in a vehicle with more tinted windows, like the kind perhaps that’s provided by her Prince Husband.
Since KP says this was an unauthorized photograph, either Carole set this up herself or Carole and Kate just got careless with their trip.
Either way, it’s communicating that Kate isn’t protected well by KP. Not sure if that’s because of incompetence by KP, or because Kate maybe is separated from William and they are not coordinating even short trips anymore.
I’m actually flabbergasted by the no protection officer thing – unless one is in the backseat that we can’t see? Or I suppose that a protection car is probably trailing behind her, but I thought one usually rode in the car with them as well. Even if William and Kate are separated, they wouldn’t take her protection away, at least not at this stage. If anything, if they’re going through a separation and negotiating a divorce, you’d think the palace would want her to be under lock and key and their control more than ever so that she doesn’t try to get her own narrative out ahead of whatever narrative they want to be out there. Basically, to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen for example (an unauthorized pap shots, if it’s true that the palace really didn’t authorize it).
And if indeed this were actually the school run, surely there’d be the RPOs for the kids, considering as how George is in the direct line with Charlotte right behind him.
Yikes. They can do a tacky staged pap shot but couldn’t release a simple “thank you for the well wishes” statement on IG which could have shut down some speculation weeks ago? Sorry to the Mrs. Wails “fans” here (we see you) but if anything this tells me things are even worse between the leading players in House Cambridge/Cornwall than we thought.
This is what I can’t get over. There is more to this story. Possibly KP is just a toxic ad chaotic workplace and people can’t or won’t preform basic PR tasks. But something is off. We might never really know but this is fascinating to me from a PR perspective.
sid, that’s my thought to and posted above. It appears, if we believe this photo, that Bone Idle was more than capable of putting out some thank yous to the medical staff and public for their concern. But, she didn’t. Do they really think this looks good?
You’re right Sid. Such arrogance in the way they go about things.
Her face looks puffy, I’m sure she was dragged out of bed to do this to take the heat off of the incompetence of their staff.
To me, it looks like her. Her face is puffy; but the structural part of it still looks the same. If it is her, (I don’t like her) but I am glad she is okay. I think maybe they’re working around the palaces and just getting a photo out there to let people know she’s alright. That’s smart.
Yes, it looks like her nose, as I said above, which is quite distinctive. Really odd to do a pap shot: obviously they don’t want anyone seeing her close up, hence the refusal of a standard hello to camera with thank you cards. I think this makes things seem more weird, not less. A huge distance, a grainy appearance. So strange. But at least she’s OK.
I agree, it looks like Kate. If this is an arranged ‘pap shot’ I think it’s been arranged by the Middletons. William was in London today ignoring a question about Kate.
The photo could have been taken on one of the private roads around the Adelaide compound which would explain the absence of security. OTOH it could equally be the road which runs past the Middleton house in Bucklebury.
Recent comments in the Mail and the Mirror have included reference to eating disorders and also to domestic violence. They would have been deleted in past weeks.
So not even People.com will show the picture. Big headline about Kate being spotted, but only already-seen pictures from the last year in the article. How is KO so bad at this? A simple Instagram post from “C” thanking well-wishers for their support. One sentence, and everyone would have gone about their day. But silence and then a grainy photo of Carole and maybe, possibly, could be, Kate?!
Who knows? Could be just a photoshop.
Not beating the faKate allegations, I’m kidding ! More seriously she might very well have had some sort of mental health issues and this family is just too dysfunctional to do anything other than to hide her away for some time.
I am prepared to believe it’s not something uber sinister, but you can’t handle PR this way, nor can you be this squirrely about the whereabouts of a publicly funded figure for this long. If in truth she’s at some Swiss clinic having every inch of her body made over, they needed to build a PR strategy to cover her absence, including periodic statements from her or a rep thanking everyone for their concern and assuring the public all is normal. Surely some high school intern could have managed this better if there’s *really nothing wrong*
I think it’s pretty clear from this picture that it’s not *only mental health issues (certainly that could also be a component). Her face looks swollen and puffy in a way that looks indicative of some sort of medical treatment to me – like she’s on steroids or has been on an IV for long periods of time or something. Even if she was being treated for an eating disorder and had gained weight, I don’t think she would have gained that much in her face on that period of time, I think she looks swollen as a result of some type of medical treatment is my guess. I’m going with bowel/intestinal surgery with complications (which actually probably would require steroid use for a while afterwards), and/or a stroke. Also, for her sake I really hope that she’s not suffering from/receiving treatment for an eating disorder, because I can only imagine that all of this chatter over how much she doesn’t look like herself and has a puffy face could result in a major setback for her.
Like you say, that doesn’t look like ED recovery to me. The feeding programmes are slow and gradual, to prevent sickness on a reduced stomach capacity and to ensure sufferers don’t shock themselves into feeling too big all of a sudden. She looks like she’s been very ill with something else. It’s sad that they’ve done the appearance in this way, but at least she’s OK. William should’ve handled it better: been more dignified, made a proper personal announcement on her/their behalf, with a response to all the best wishes.
I have two friends who had significant stomach hernia removal surgery. Both of them were put on a restricted diet for weeks. No solids, acids, sugar, salt, spices, carbs, coffee tea or processed food. Basically broth and apple juice during the first week, then went on to add soups and purees for maybe another week. Just then they started to slowly incorporate solid foods etc. They lost a lot of weight, which they only got to regain like, two months later. Even ppl wearing a colostomy bag, they can’t eat just anything. Kate doesn’t look like someone who was already gaunty when she started to be deprived of food, considering that her surgery allegedly took place mid January..
Talk about taking a bad situation and making it worse. I guess I’ve watched too many movies and docudrama programs but this doesn’t feel right. I hope I live long enough to learn the real story here. Somethin’ ain’t right, y’all!
Slush. I believe it’s her. I believe it’s a pap shot. It looks like it had to be taken to shut down the gossip. I believe she looks like someone who wouldn’t want to do a proper photo shoot because, yes, she looks puffed up and ill. However, as others have said, rather than all this hoopla it would’ve been easy and nice enough for William to have stepped up at the very start and said a formal thank you, perhaps showing some of the cards Kate had liked most and relaying her words. Oh bloody hell’s sake – look my comment has landed at the bottom when I tried to insert it as a reply beneath Slush’s comment. I’m rubbish at this! I’ll only make matters worse if I try again. I’ll probably land at the top. I’m off to bed. Night night everyone!
Good night, friend. 🙂
Morning, friend! That’s such a lovely comment to see this morning. I shut down my laptop asap after posting last night, and to wake up this morning, get working, coffee in hand, sneak into celebitchy after calming into the day, and see your good night is so nice. Have a productive day and see you about on here!
So many things don’t add up. If this photo was sold to TMZ from a photo agency, that means a professional photographer took it, right? Or at very least, an aspiring professional photographer. Why did they publish just ONE photo? Don’t most photographers shoot rapidly so they can get 100s of pictures, no matter how brief the encounter? The car was driving toward the photographer, surely there would be a series of shots, including possibly one of a side view? Leave it to the Middletons to botch a staged photo op.
Hold on to your bucket of popcorn. This is the SM age. I bet you that by the end of this week, more will be exposed about that picture. Aside from the SM sleuths, I don’t think the Spanish gal wants to be made a fool off. Even if it is KittyKat in that picture, it doesn’t mean the picture itself is what it purports to be. Just you wait.
Proud Mary I am agreeing with you. This picture is not what it is purported to be on the surface. Photoshopped.
I also get the vibe that this was done under duress. The global media speculation got under William’s skin so badly that KP called…wherever Kate is staying these days…and demanded she show proof of life. So CarolE and Kate did the minimum to meet that demand. Hence they both look pissed off.
The Middleton’s called TMZ?! Why?
That is not Kate. Even on steroids, that woman doesn’t resemble Kate with weight. We’ve seen her pregnant. And while this wouldn’t be the same, she wouldn’t magically lose her mole.
I also get the vibe that this was done under duress. As though the world’s scrutiny and speculation and criticism got to William and so KP called…wherever Kate is staying these days…and demanded they show proof of life. So Kate and Ma Middleton did the bare minimum (I’m presuming a lot about the state of the Wails’ relationship) and that’s why they both look so pissed off in the car.
Louise, but where is the security?
Good point! So I go back to my first statement—so many things don’t add up. Maybe this was Kate refusing KP’s demand to get out there and give the people what they want??
Big Weekend at Bernie’s vibes here
IKR? People keep focusing on claim that it’s not her. My thing is, if it’s her, that women looks like she’s unlive.
Zoom in and note the extreme bruising behind the lenses
Yes those are serious black eyes.
Thats Pippa all day. Look at the jawline and her mouth.
Oh phooey!!! 🫤
Made a Greek salad and some garden burgers and am now enjoying cocktails on the patio as I ponder my own conspiracy theories.
Interesting how the royals have been dispatched (deployed) (rewarded?) recently. Sophie and Edward to Switzerland, Anne to Dubai, Eugenie and Zara to Bahrain, and now Camilla in India.
Monday, Commonwealth Day, will be interesting as William hasn’t been seen with any other member of the royal family since December 25. Will Charles allow William to attend?
ETA: I’m regarding the “Kate” sighting as noise. I wouldn’t be surprised if this photo were at the direction of Charles.
Why hasn’t Will been seen with his dad? Nor visited him after his diagnosis? Is Chuck mad at something Will did? Why did the other royals get away? Why did Camilla feel the need to get away? So many questions.
All of William’s engagements have been without the other royals. It’s rather strange.
I actually don’t think we know enough about whether / how much he has seen his dad. I don’t think they usually release pictures of each other hanging out with the other on a live basis. I think there were some sycophantic articles in some of the tabloids saying that William had been spending time with his dad. All to say – who knows, I’m reserving judgment for what his relationship with his dad is right now, I don’t think we know about yet. On the other hand, I absolutely am reading into his not doing engagements with anyone else in the family yet, particularly as the memorial service that he called out of would have been his first time in public with other members of the royal family since Kate’s surgery news broke correct? Has he done any other joint engagements since Christmas? I don’t think William was well liked by his cousins/extended family other than Mike Randall and Zara. I absolutely would love to see what his interactions with the rest of the family will be now the next time he sees them. I don’t think he likes to be around or associated with Andrew (or Fergie), I don’t think he gets along well with the York sisters. I’m actually not too clear on what his relationship with Anne is, but we all know that she takes no crap and doesn’t suffer fools, so I’ll be watching her closely at any joint engagements she has with William. He seems to get along ok with Edwards and Sophie. Clearly he only tolerates Camilla and I think even that tolerance is going to be further tested, because I do think shes been briefing against him and also trying to show him up doing this whole dueling Charles and Kate illness era (showing up at the hospital multiple times, etc)
Or maybe Art they wanted to be out of the way – away from William
Wait a second…what happened to the doctor’s orders that she had to stay in bed? This outing raises a lot more questions.
I don’t think the palace ever said that a doctor said she had to stay in bed for months. Their only statement said that the current medical advice stated that she was unlikely to return to physical duties before Easter. With most serious medical issues, it would be very unlikely for bed rest to be mandated for months at a time, as bed rest itself can cause more medical issues. It’s more likely that she has something that prevents her from working with any consistency, but for which she can still and is probably encouraged to get up and walk around, etc.
You’re right, Claire- they want you up and about rather than lying in bed. I think the impression she should be in bed came from Kate/KP herself – the “she’s going to be working from bed” release, which was met with “how’s she going to cut ribbons and wave from her bed” chatback all over the DM. Once again, a bit of a backfire.
I don’t think the car is in motion. You can see the tire tread quite clearly. I think they are stopped? SM is pointing out that five wheels look visible. I think maybe there is a tire leaning against the car/getting changed?
If so, you would think there would be multiple opportunities for more photos…
You’re absolutely right. All the tire treads are visible and the car is at a complete standstill.
Looks like Kate to me, with any apparent discrepancies being totally explicable by meds. I directly credit CBers like me who were specifically asking “Where’s Carole?” for this development. Now, I will feel ashamed if that pressure seemed to demand a photograph, which no one was owed. I didn’t want a picture but a consistent explanation, however vague. The messaging was disturbing to the degree that Meghan stans were openly worrying about Kate (!) and hoping she was safe. How did it get so far that Squaddies were the most vocal force worrying Kate was being erased?
Shawna – they only have themselves and their comms team to blame for their inept handling of this
Exactly, Shawna, this is a really sad development. A staged pap shot, with people wondering if the car is even moving and whether it’s actually Kate (it’s her nose, I say it again!!). The thing is, this sorry affair of driving an ill woman around in her mother’s car could’ve been prevented if William had done some kind of video talking about Kate’s recovery and thanking people for all their best wishes, she particularly liked this card or that etc. That’s all it would’ve taken. This is really tawdry. I feel sorry for her; glad she’s ok, but sorry for her.
Tawdry is the word. It’s gotten to a very icky place.
I am not convinced. Where is the mole? Something is fishy here. I am willing to admit I was wrong about what’s going on, but it’s going to take better evidence than one photoshopped picture
Check out X account @Just2_U_
This person has the full-framed image and points out the differences on the front of the car passenger side versus driver side. This person circled the grills that are in front that are different from each other.
A professional photographer would have what they call a hood on the lens to prevent all this shadowing but that’s just me hey
Also pointed out what others have said about looks like five tires.
Could just be the way the sunlight is hitting everything but on first glance on myself said oh that’s Pippa.
The dragging Kate is getting is epic on the X app. I think the Middletons went rogue because of the memes, but in doing so they undercut KP and create new conspiracy theories. KP didn’t authorize this photo; a photo sending the message William is not fit for the throne.BM is claiming the shot is from a school run, TMZ never said that.
The question is, if she’s as unwell as she’s being portrayed why would she be ‘doing the school run’. It’s just not believable. That no one questions the school run narrative is absurd. It’s been reported neither of them regularly do it even in good health let alone when she’s supposedly recovering privately from some mysterious surgery. School run my ar*e.
So no photos of the children in the car.
Isn’t William supposed to be doing the school run? Isn’t that why he hasn’t been able to work?
TMZ is the one that exposed William’s lad weekend in 2017 (during Commonwealth Day) where he was getting very friendly with random Aussie ladies Now it’s the one with the Kate proof of life photos that are not going over well.
I think the difference with the William ski party photos were that they didn’t look like prearranged shots. I think a photographer and/or pap really did get photos of him on vacation and sell them to TMZ. In this case, the picture itself does seem to be likely prearranged. With the angle of the picture, I don’t think someone would get that shot unless they expected the car to be coming?
Sorry folks. I think Kate just got some work done. He fave looks odd because these things just take time to settle.
Do I think William is a cheater and an ass and she probably had enough, possibly to the point of a health crisis? Definitely. But this looks like a lady who’s hiding a facelift.
There was probably work around the eyes for the facelift. And the eyebrows. The dark glasses coveted it.
If it’s her in the photo then she still looks puffy and jowly. It’s possible she gained weight but the jowls are still there.
22 movies: Weekend at Bernie’s, Star Wars prequel where the Amisala look alike gets killed!! This “picture” doesn’t really help their case, IMO~
I agree with a variety of posts on Twitter (X) . This looks setup for the US audience(this photo wasn’t even released in the UK and only released on Murdoch owned TMZ?). They woke up a sleeping giant and they literally cannot manipulate or control the US audience(or the world audience for that matter) like they can control the media in the UK. And now they’re getting even more dragged for this. 😆
I was all on board the it’s Kate train. Just puffy from medication & grainy photo in bad light… but then the mole thing came up and a hmmm. But that can be explained away by graininess. But now it seems the UK press are not publishing the pic and claiming it’s because of privacy. Is it a surprise sone are finding that a bit hard to swallow? Even if they claim KP asked them not to. Maybe the doubters are right – that they’re not publishing for the same reasons KP havent put out a statement in Kate’s name/words. Because it’s not her.
I’m probably still on the it’s Kate train but those who aren’t have valid reasons 🤷♀️
You’re right to stay on that train! Sit tight! It’s Kate and it’s been arranged imo. They can deny all they like – they have to, really, to excuse the stupidity of stooping as low as an arranged pap shot.
The release of this photo is just a shiny object for us all to tap dance in our places while they buy more time:
Skeptics won’t believe it
Naysayers will insist the skeptics are goggle eyed conspiracy theorists
People who are only half paying attention will think Kate was spotted
KP can valiantly insist the photos are unauthorized and act offended while they wriggle out of the rota’s grip by blaming the Americans for it
Nothing has changed and we all continue to wait for the story to get blown wide open.
Completely agree IG
My 2 cents after my own trip down the rabbit hole – Future King PWT is a rageaholic and an alcoholic and has occasionally hit her in the past. I think her ED is tied to this toxic and abusive pattern in their relationship. This time he went too far, I think, and really hurt her, even doing damage to her face which needed to be fixed, away from prying eyes. Hard to thank the doctors without people asking, well, which doctors, who are they, let’s interview the doctors who “cared for our princess”, hence the silence. I think this also explains his having been seemingly isolated by his family and his going AWOL as well as acting like a guilty and squirrelly POS these days.
This is my takie as well. He weny too far this time and Kate pulled an Angelina – had to hide to heal physical marks but also there is war happening behind the scenes. We won’t see her anytime soon. And Will seems to spiral and is left alone by his family – that says a lot to me about what happened. Kate must have sth on him so damaging that he doesn’t dare to publicly force her to show her face (other that this grainy pic) or issue a statement that all is well and he cares for her. Next weeks gonna be interesting.
My thoughts exactly. When he was hit on the head at school he had a bad rep for his temper. I thought at that time ‘Good. Someone’s hit the brat back he probably deserved it’. The British public never found out who hit him either. It was an accident.
So we’re no longer talking about Camilla calling in exhausted and abandoning her cancer stricken husband to travel OS?…. How lucky is Camilla?
Back in this morning, so probably no one will see this down here but I suddenly thought when I got up – they’ve had to put Carole in bright light and without sunglasses on, despite the fact she looks like she can’t see to drive in that sunlight, because she needs to be clearly recognisable, thereby proving at least it’s Kate’s mum so everyone can assume that her passenger is more than likely Kate. Poor Carole – she’s squinting like all merry hell.
Yep, funny how Carole can be seen clearly but her passenger can’t. Hmmmmm
I enjoy your comments Sparrow – and the many others too.
Thank you to Kaiser for this sub 👌
Thanks, Liz! I’m surprised anyone can make sense of my comments. I’m meant to be working but sometimes you need a break, don’t you, so I hop in here, get engrossed, rush type all over the place and make typos – most of it ends up as a mess of thoughts, with me replying to myself to correct myself – I bounce all over the thread and then go. I can’t believe that my first thought this morning was “so THAT’S why Carole wasn’t wearing sunglasses”, rather than “let’s get the kids to school”.
It seems like K had to wear sunglasses meaning C had to go without hers despite the obvious inconvenience. Looking at the photo, I suspect K is wearing sunglasses to hide an “injury” or “injuries” around that area of her face.
I wonder if they called a photographer but didn’t expect one that day or at that particular time, and so Kate grabbed Carole’s sunglasses to hide her face. And that’s why there is only one pic – Kate and her mom wouldn’t unofficially authorize the non-sunglasses photos, and for Backgrid and TMZ it wasn’t worth it to turn it into a war over the sunglasses. They got their shot. I say this bc those sunglasses are pretty ugly and I am not sure if we’ve seen Kate wear them before, but I can see Carole wearing them.
She’s worn them before, I’m sure around the time of the queen’s funeral she was photo’d driving with some on. I think she’s told to shy away from them in public life but here I can imagine she’d wear them. I say this only because of my own experience of surgery and recovery which is, you emerge from a cocoon and feel exposed in the outside and particularly to bright light. Also, it’s a strange thing but I don’t associate Carole’s generation with sunglasses. They hit about 10 years down and have become ubiquitous now. My mum would’ve laughed at shades being worn anywhere but at the beach. But then Carole is in her own mind a celebrity so approaches to eyewear would differ for her.
LOL, my mom is in her early 70s and wears sunglasses! the late queen did and so does Anne. so I dont think Carole is opposed to them (we’ve definitely seen her in them before.)
And yes, Kate has often worn sunglasses before, that’s not my point, I’m not sure she’s worn this pair before. that means nothing because she could have bought new sunglasses at any point on any given day, but these are not flattering so she should get rid of them if they are hers, LOL.
Becks1 That made me laugh. I come from such a mixed family. My mum being ultra British puritan don’t be self infatuated, she would say. I still get self conscious about sunglasses, like I’m trying for attention.
This was on Australian tv today and she honestly looked like Michael Jackson before he died .
Whoever took this photo should be ashamed of themselves .
She is obviously very unwell and on steroids .
It’s all such a mess ,
Cassie – I think they wanted their photo taken
That was staged to respond to all the SM rumors.
I wasn’t the only one that thought she looked like Michael Jackson , someone put a photo of him with a pose like Kates .
Eerie as .
People on social media is saying that’s Pippa/Katie Holmes/ Ozzy Osbourne and I’m thinking wow, I know it’s a joke but I can actually see the resemblance. It’s her really thin, small lips and tendency to easily gain weight in her face.
It’s giving Weekend at Bernie’s 😎
Nice. Every time I bang on about it being “Kate’s nose” I think of The Nose Knows kids’ detective book. If I type “nose” once more… Last thing last night in bed, I told my partner “they’ve released a picture of Kate!!!…we think”. He said “not that bloody woman” and fell asleep.
Picture courtesy of Georges Seurat.
Ha ha! That made me smile.
😂😂😂
Did anyone notice the black eyes and matted hair? Looks like there is lint in her hair.
Is that even Carol?!! Definitely not the Princess of Wales!!
Super blurry photo! The forehead is Pippas’ but the nose is neither Pippas’ nor the Princess of Wales! The jawline is not similar to that of The Princess of Wales, and I’d agree with others who posted here that the mouth looks crooked. It sure seems that there are a series of oddities here, not to mention the sudden and unusual things that have occurred ever since the last time that The Princess of Wales was seen. Suspiciously not her!!!!!! What happened to The Princess of Wales?!!
Oh for heaven’s sake. It’s 2024. Facial recognition software exists. So does forensic image analysis. I guarantee that TMZ uses both technologies, so either this is Kate or TMZ is cooperating with a diversion.
At first glance I thought it was Pippa. Then I zoomed in and I wasn’t sure. There’s something very strange going on and this won’t quell the speculation, but it’ll bait many of the online analysts into sounding absolutely bonkers and thus easily dismissed.
The thing that doesn’t make sense to me is how there have been numerous car photos of her from a lens and none of them have been this grainy. They’ve actually been very clear and detailed. I understand that she is in the passenger seat where it has shade, but even her mom isn’t as clear as other paparazzi car photos taken in the same area. Her not having any protection with her is questionable also because even though they are presumably on the Windsor estate, her mother is driving and likely would have gone outside of the Windsor estate to drop off the kids, go to her parents house or whatever. They definitely wouldn’t be driving randomly on the Windsor estate without security. Add in the five tires and the fact that the same ones linked to the New York car chase are all involved in this one photo being released of someone who is in the UK and supposedly on the Windsor estate. Very suspect.
Here I am, right at the bottom where no one will see this. One thought just wandered through my brain. It’s early spring there, correct? Why does the scenery outside all the windows look like mature leaves on the trees?