Catherine, Princess of Wales' whereabouts continue to be a topic of discussion and new footage allegedly of the royal has people talking. On March 18, a new video circulating online seems to show the former
Kate Middleton and William, Prince of Wales at a market in Windsor over the weekend.
Kensington Palace declined to comment on the footage. The video, released by The Sun and TMZ , appears to show
Prince William and Kate, casually dressed and walking out of a shop. The Princess of Wales is all smiles, wearing black leggings and a black hoodie while carrying shopping bags. Kate took an extended break from public appearances and royal affairs as she recovers from a planned abdominal surgery in January, according to Kensington Palace. The palace has not shared further details about the procedure or need for it, however, a spokesperson confirmed it was not cancerous. The palace, however, did say in a previous statement to
NBC News that Kate was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.” Conspiracy theories and rumors began popping up online about Kate's whereabouts and her health, despite Kensington Palace reminding people that she was taking a break from her royal duties. “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the Princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates,” a spokesperson for the princess said in a statement to NBC News. “That guidance stands.” Two previous sightings of Kate have been reported. The first was on March 4, when the princess appeared to ride in an SUV while her mother, Carole Middleton , drove. On March 11, she and William were also seen leaving
Windsor Castle in a Range Rover — though she could barely be seen in the grainy photo. Rumors only continued after a botched U.K. Mother's Day photo that included Kate with her three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Shortly after it was released, several leading photo agencies issued “kill notices” for the family photo due to it being digitally manipulated. Kate went on to issue a statement regarding the edited photo, saying in a March 11 message: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.” Meanwhile, according to Britain’s The Sunday Times newspaper, which cited unnamed “friends” in a March 16 article, Kate is aware of the media frenzy surrounding her. Sunday Times royals editor Roya Nikkhah said on TODAY on March 18 that the couple “are not immune to hearing some of the things going around in the media and
Social Media, I think they’re finding that very hard.” Additionally, the newspaper suggested just like Kensington Palace had mentioned, that the mother of three wouldn’t be publicly seen until mid-April. Nikkhah echoed those sentiments on TODAY, saying, “In terms of resuming public duties, that definitely won’t be until the children go back after their school holidays, and that’s on April the 17th.”