When was the last time Kate Middleton was seen in public? Timeline of events

Where is Kate Middleton? Back at the end of ‘23 people would have thought you had a screw loose if you thought a significant portion of the internet would be devoted to the question of the whereabouts of of the Princess of Wales a few months into the new year, but here we are.

So what happened and how did we get here? In December last year everything seemed business as usual for the Royal Family; having lost Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Prince Charles had become King, with his coronation on May 6, 2023 and the rest of the year had seen the family finding their feet in their new roles.

Kate Middleton’s last public appearance

The Royal Family celebrated their traditional Christmas Day service on December 25 and Kate Middleton was there with the rest of the family. The Christmas Morning Service was held, as usual, at Sandringham Church, and Kate was there with her husband Prince William and their three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis. Wearing a calf-length, bright blue coat and black high-necked jumper the Princess of Wales looked in perfect health and good spirits. Also there that day were King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla, along with many of the other royals.

At the end of service Kate was seen leaving the church services and heading to lunch at Sandringham House…

Timeline of events post Kate’s final appearance

Since Christmas at Sandringham, Kate Middleton has had no further public appearances, however according to Cambridgeshire Live after Christmas she and William headed to her parents’ in Berkshire to bring in the New Year, as they often have done. According to sources, the Princess of Wales, throw a very “lively” party.

January 17 - surgery announcement

The next official announcement about Kate came Kensington Palace, the residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, on January 17, to announce that “Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to hospital for planned abdominal surgery.” According to the statement the surgery was a success and Kate would be spending “ten to fourteen days in hospital” before completing her recovery at home. She was not expected to return to public duties until after Easter - Easter Sunday this year falls on Sunday 31 March.

The statement also said updates would only be give where there is “significant new information to share.”

January 18 - Prince William visits hospital

The day after the surgery announcement Prince William is seen visiting the hospital where Kate is said to have undergone surgery.

January 29 - Kate returns home

Kensington Palace released a statement saying that Kate had returned home and is “making good progress” in her recover from surgery. As of publication no further information has officially been given on Kate’s health.

February 29 - Timeline guidelines reinforced

Page Six and NBC news are told by a spokesperson for Kensington Palace that the guidance given back in January that only “significant updates” would be given about the Princess’s health stands. So no more information at this time.

March 4 - Windsor Castle photo

A photo appears of Kate in the passenger seat of a car, with her mother, Carole Middleton, as they drive near Windsor Castle, according to gossip site TMZ. The photo is not released, authorised or confirmed by the Royals and indeed the most U.K. press outlets do not publish the picture.

Emily Andrews says Kensington Palace “exerted huge pressure” on the U.K. press not to publish the picture.

What appears to be unfounded debate ensues online as to whether it actually is Kate Middleton in the photo.

March 5 - Trooping the Colour attendance

The British Army says the Princess of Wales will be attending their Trooping the Colour even on June 8. It then removes the post. As if the online rumor frenzy really needed any more stoking.

March 10 - Mother’s Day photo

On March 10, Kensington Palace released the now infamous Mother’s Day photo of Kate and her three children. The photo was also circulated to press agencies, several of whom then retracted the photo, issuing “kill” notices, upon discerning that the photo had been manipulated.

Associated Press said: “While there was no suggestion the image was fake, AP pulled the photograph from circulation because it did not meet its photo standards. AP’s editorial standards state that images must be accurate. AP does not use altered or digitally manipulated images”

Kensington Palace leave the photo in place on its Twitter timeline.

The online frenzy over exactly how the photo had been manipulated grows to epic proportions.

March 11 - Admission of photo editing

The day after the photo was released, a post was made, apparently from Catherine - the post on Twitter was signed ‘C’ - to say that “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.”

Obviously this note, with no further photos or information, only saw the speculation increase yet further as to exactly what was happening.

March 11 - Photo apparently leaving Windsor Castle

According to the Mail Online, the Princess of Wales was snapped leaving Windsor Castle by car, alongside Prince William. The photo, taken through the rear windows of the car, shows Prince William, and a side profile of what was said to be the Princess of Wales.

This photo did little to quell the rumors surrounding the situation of Kate Middleton.

Ongoing - endless speculation

In the midst of the ongoing rumors a simple explanation could well be that Kate Middleton is indeed still recovering from surgery and the couple and their advisors have decided that no matter the media storm around the situation they are going to stand firm and stick to their initial guidance, which is that she has no public duties until after Easter and updates will only be given if there are significant updates.

This though has led to an information vacuum, and the problem with a vacuum is that the internet abhors it and rushes to fill it with all manner of speculation. One of the most persistent over the past few days relates to an alleged affair by William with the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, Sarah Rose Hanbury; Stephen Colbert even referenced it on his Late Show. “The Kingdom has been all a flutter about the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton. Well now, internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband, and the future King of England, Williiam, having an affair.”

Unsurprisingly, neither Hanbury, Middleton nor Prince William have made any mention of the rumors or provided any refutation.