When the Palace announced that the Princess of Wales had undergone abdominal surgery in January, it preceded weeks of speculation over Kate's health. In March, when concerns over the royal's recovery were at their peak on social media, Kate shared a video explaining that she was receiving chemotherapy treatment as doctors found that cancer had been present during her procedure at the start of the year.
Before she shared that news with the world, interest in Kate's absence from public life was rapidly mounting and various moves from the Palace - including the controversial Mother's Day photo and a video of William and Kate at a local farm shop - did little to dampen what they called 'wild conspiracy theories'. In a report for Vanity Fair, journalist and royal correspondent Katie Nicholl has claimed that William and Kate were 'floored by the reaction', with the former private secretary to the late Princess Diana, Patrick Jephson, explaining: "The information vacuum that the Palace did not have the good sense to fill with honest, harmless stuff allowed these wild conspiracy theories to grow up... The public’s love for the monarchy is its greatest strength. Its greatest guarantee of longevity."
