The public absence of Catherine, Princess of Wales, has grown from a niche royal watcher concern to an international punchline in a matter of weeks. While Kensington Palace said her January abdominal surgery was planned and indicated she would be out of the public eye through March, several unusual details 鈥 , , vague medical information, irregular updates from the Royal Family 鈥 have kept the public guessing.
That鈥檚 never a good thing.
Catherine鈥檚 so-called disappearance has led TikTok and X users to swan dive into bizarre conspiracy theories and jokes so thickly intertextual it makes one wonder if social media really does give us brainworms.
Droves of amateur detectives have crafted timelines and deep dives into the princess鈥 movements over the last few months, combining real concern with outlandish conspiracy. Regular people moonlighting as photo forensics specialists have suggested recent images of Kate are fabricated, spinning theories on where she actually is and who they think is trying to cover up the 鈥渢ruth.鈥
And yes, there are a lot of jokes. At first, it was just the typical guffaws that arise whenever something socially noteworthy gets passed around the online comedy circuit: Maybe Kate got a Brazilian butt lift! Maybe she got terrible bangs and is hiding away until they grow out! Maybe she鈥檚 after a long MLB offseason!
Then, after a Mother鈥檚 Day photo of the princess and her three children was believed to have been altered 鈥 and subsequently pulled by news agencies 鈥 things started to get more serious and more unhinged. Typically complimentary British media outlets began to ask more pointed questions. American TV shows openly made fun of what was quickly becoming a royal mess, even trotting out theories that had previously been the exclusive fodder of gossip enthusiasts 鈥 more on that in a bit.
Oh, and Kate still hasn鈥檛 been seen in public since December.
The uproar, the theories, the analyses, the jokes and, yes, the serious concern 鈥 they all show the multitude of ways people interact with and view the royal family.
鈥楨veryone loves a mystery鈥
It鈥檚 not hard to understand why people are so invested in this particular piece of drama. After all, it鈥檚 called 鈥減alace intrigue鈥 for a reason. Across social media and on message boards 鈥 and indeed, even before the internet, royal watchers have gathered to discuss who鈥檚 doing what, who鈥檚 on the outs, and whose secrets are the juiciest.
鈥淭hey lead these unattainable, unrelatable lives, and yet I鈥檝e been aware of them my entire life,鈥 said Susan Graves. The 40-year-old moved to the US nearly 20 years ago from Birmingham, U.K., and keeps up with royal news on sites like Reddit, where the has more than 44,000 subscribers.
鈥淚 am old enough to remember when Princess Diana died, and all of the scandal and sadness that happened after that,鈥 she told CNN. 鈥淎nd now, with everything happening with Prince Harry and his wife, and the seedier things happening with Prince Andrew, and the King being ill. It鈥檚 always something.鈥
Carly Wainsworth, a 28-year-old American who also follows royal gossip on Reddit and elsewhere, told CNN it all kind of feels like solving a mystery.
鈥淚t feels like fiction, but it鈥檚 not,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just real enough to be real, if that makes sense. Then you throw in stuff like a Photoshopped picture, and you can鈥檛 help but be intrigued at what鈥檚 going on.鈥
She says even friends who usually don鈥檛 care about the royal family at all are invested in the drama with the princess.
鈥淓veryone loves a mystery. A lot of these people think it鈥檚 fun to look for clues, to guess at what鈥檚 happening behind the scenes. It鈥檚 the same casual stuff people do when they gossip about people they actually know.鈥
Both Graves and Wainsworth said shows like 鈥淭he Crown鈥 and controversies surrounding various members of the royal family 鈥 from the media treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the fallout of Harry鈥檚 memoir 鈥淪pare,鈥 to more serious subjects like allegations surrounding King Charles鈥 brother Prince Andrew and even enduring interest in the life and death of Princess Diana 鈥 have influenced the way people see the monarchy.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 because I鈥檓 American or what, but I just assume they鈥檙e always hiding something,鈥 Wainsworth said. 鈥淣ot [the royal family] specifically, just anyone in that kind of position.鈥
It all sounds very serious, but a majority of are, to borrow from our British friends, just taking the piss.
The social media platform X now supports groups known as 鈥渃ommunities,鈥 and one called 鈥溾 has attracted 4,400 members ready to cram on their sleuthing hats.
鈥淜ate is missing and Twitter is on the case! Join us, indulge your guilty pleasure,鈥 its description reads. 鈥淔riends don鈥檛 let friends spiral down the royal rabbit hole alone.鈥
Oh, and what a royal rabbit hole it is: Videos and posts in the group outline stories that could trump any fictional mystery-thriller. On the other hand, there are also Photoshop jobs of Kate holding hands with perpetual celebrity boyfriend Pete Davidson and jokes that Kate may be taking a spin on the reality show 鈥淭he Masked Singer.鈥
People don鈥檛 know what to believe
It鈥檚 one thing for at-home gossip lovers to dive into royal conspiracy theories, but as Catherine鈥檚 absence from the public eye wears on, entertainment and media outlets are getting more bold in their speculation. On a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert 锘縠ven about Kate and William鈥檚 personal lives.
In a single line, he also summed up how so many interested parties feel about the controversy: Concern for Kate as an individual, but a guilty hunger for more details.
鈥淢y heart goes out to Kate. Now let鈥檚 dish the hot goss!鈥
The Daily Show with a faux London correspondent reading out a list of things that 鈥渨ere also Kate鈥檚 fault,鈥 including 鈥渃olonization and the whole Prince Andrew thing.鈥
Even the Dublin Airport got a shot in, of an obviously Photoshopped Cillian Murphy from their 鈥渟ocial media intern Kate.鈥
More dire than the growing transatlantic comedy routine is the apparent dissolution of trust between some media outlets and the royal family. After Catherine apologized for the doctored Mother鈥檚 Day image, the global director of one of the world鈥檚 biggest news and photo agencies said Kensington Palace, which released the photo, was no longer considered a 鈥渢rusted source.鈥
鈥淟ike with anything, when you鈥檙e let down by a source, the bar is raised and we鈥檝e got major issues internally,鈥 AFP head Phil Chetwynd in a radio interview.
The released a statement urging Kensington Palace 鈥渢o make the original images available for inspection so that we can assess what has been done鈥 and 鈥渕ake sure that it doesn鈥檛 happen again.鈥
Members of the British media are also beginning to openly question the official narrative of Kate鈥檚 absence. 鈥淔eeding frenzy over Kate proves the royals MUST be more transparent,鈥 reads a recent headline from The Daily Mail, an outlet that is in its royal news coverage.
The royal response hasn鈥檛 calmed things
Throughout the whole controversy, official information from Kensington Palace, which is the London residence and office of Prince William and Kate, has been uneven. that the palace typically doesn鈥檛 respond to rumours about the royal family, yet has made the rare move of responding to of Kate鈥檚 condition.
At the same time, the palace hasn鈥檛 for an unedited version of the Mother鈥檚 Day photo, or provided more information on Kate鈥檚 whereabouts.
Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, that the royal family鈥檚 long-standing culture of silence is not doing them any favours when it comes to quelling conspiracies about Kate鈥檚 absence.
鈥淭he difficulty now is because there is so little information about what鈥檚 happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way 鈥 with a photo that is now deemed to be fake 鈥 it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that鈥檚 going on,鈥 Borkowski said.
While some voices have called for speculators to give Kate and the royal family some privacy, and others have suggested for Kate鈥檚 disappearance, the fact remains: For one reason or another, people care about the royals. And, as national figureheads, it is part of their duty to be cared about.
鈥淚n a constitutional monarchy where kings and queens wield little actual, but plenty of soft power, visibility is everything,鈥 Politico U.K. deputy editor Rosa Prince wrote for CNN. 鈥淭hey may not be able to pass laws, negotiate treaties or order troops into battle, but the British royals can open supermarkets, attend premieres and visit the sick. Without that, like Barbie, what were they made for?鈥
