For weeks, hundreds of people online have spread conspiracy theories, posted memes and cracked jokes in an attempt to answer one question: Where is Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales? Kensington Palace repeatedly said that Kate was recovering from a planned January abdominal surgery. Still, official responses, as well as an edited image posted to the palace’s social media channels, only fueled more unsubstantiated rumors.
Many online said Kate’s news also serves as a reminder to stop making assumptions about people’s personal lives. It’s a sentiment that’s popped up online before, particularly when celebrities and public figures are overly scrutinized or become the subject of unsupported claims by their followers. Some fans of actor Chadwick Boseman expressed similar regret about commenting on his weight loss when it was revealed after his death that he had been quietly battling colon cancer for years.