For the first time since her abdominal surgery, the Princess of Wales has resurfaced in an official family portrait shared by Kensington Palace in honor of Mother’s Day in the UK. Kate Middleton’s photo shows her posing with her three children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—but social media users are already picking up on what appears to be a pretty major omission from the portrait: the princess isn’t wearing her wedding ring.
Princess Kate shared a personal message alongside the photo, thanking fans for their support since she underwent her abdominal surgery in January 2024. “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” read her statement. “Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C.”
The 42-year-old mother of three normally doesn’t wearing her engagement ring, a.k.a. the famous sapphire piece she inherited from the late Princess Diana—but it’s rare to see her without her gold wedding band. Already, her missing ring has social media users speculating about the state of her marriage with Prince William, who is also absent from the family portrait. (According to Kensington Palace, however, the Prince of Wales was behind the lens as the photographer responsible for the portrait.)
“Are we meant to ignore the fact that Kate isn’t wearing her wedding ring? Trouble between her and Prince William?” one commenter speculated on X (formerly Twitter). Another X user wrote, “PR STUNT GONE wrong again, no wedding ring, weather is suddenly bright in London with green grass and green leaves even though London don’t look like that right now,” adding, “A MESSS do they think people in this generation are that dumb.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that the Prince and Princess of Wales have released an official portrait with photoshop fails—Prince Louis’ missing finger in their family Christmas photo being one of the more recent examples—but given the recent list of conspiracy theories circulating about Kate’s lack of public appearances since her surgery, the scrutiny and speculation surrounding the royal family’s image has only intensified.
Kensington Palace has shared several responses to the conspiracy theories surrounding Kate’s health, telling Page Six in February 2024 that, “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands.” They reiterated their stance to Entertainment Tonight, telling the outlet, “We gave guidance two days ago that the Princess of Wales continues to be doing well. As we have been clear since our initial statement in January, we shall not be providing a running commentary or providing daily updates.”
Previously, the Palace stated that the Princess of Wales would be taking a long break from her public facing royal duties until after Easter. Until then, we can only continue to wish the Princess of Wales well on her recovery.
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