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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Kate Middleton has reportedly been seen going to a farm shop and watched her children play sport but the absence of a photograph has caused a new round of social media speculation.
The Princess of Wales was seen with husband Prince William looking happy and healthy, according to The Sun, a week after a Photoshopped Mother's Day photograph sent Kensington Palace's reputation as a trusted source into meltdown.
The newspaper printed details of Kate's trip but stated no photographs were taken, which predictably meant conspiracy theorists on X, formerly Twitter, cast doubt.
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A post by Matt Wilkinson, the newspaper's royal editor, was community noted, despite the fact printing an image of the princess going about her private life, would likely have breached U.K. privacy laws.
Wilkinson's post, viewed 2.3 million times, read: "Front page of @TheSun on Monday. Princess of Wales has been seen out and about in public this weekend—spending Saturday shopping and Sunday watching her children play sports in Windsor. Full story visit Sun Online and/or buy a paper."
He added: "People keep asking me 'what's really happened to Kate?' Well, she really had major surgery in January, really said she'd take till April to recover, really asked for privacy, really mucked up a Mother's Day photo, and may choose to be more open when good and ready, really."
The community note read: "This post and accompanying image are misleading. The photo of Kate used here is from last autumn.
"Kate was not seen by any verified sources and there are no photographs of her 'public trip.'"
While the front page headline read "Kate Outdoors"—a play on the saying great outdoors—the caption also made clear the photo was from autumn.
Needless to say, the frenzied atmosphere around pictures of Kate arose in part from the fact Kensington Palace put out a doctored picture of the princess with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on Mother's Day which was then "killed" by four international picture agencies over concerns about manipulation.
And last week, Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), told the BBC he no longer regarded KP as a "trusted source."
One X post liked 617,000 times read: "Not the 'no one took any photos but pinky promise Kate Middleton was at a farm' headline."
They added: "If you include professional hair and make-up it would take two hours and George holding an iphone for Kate Middleton to record a few second video thanking everyone for their 'well wishes.'
"There is just no reasonable explanation for why this hasn't happened."
Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, author of This Is Why I Resist, wrote: "What a joke! If Kate Middleton is outdoors why use picture from ages ago? Royal Family lost the plot—no one trusts anything they say. Imagine if this entire debacle was about Meghan Markle—they would be feeding off this story for months, writing books, making films etc."
Jack Royston is Newsweek*'s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on* Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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