London: Princess of Wales Kate Middleton reportedly made her first public appearance, where she was shown looking fit and healthy after undergoing abdominal surgery two months ago in footage published by UK daily The Sun on Monday. Kate's health has been a source of widespread speculation following a controversy over an edited family photograph uploaded by Kensington Palace.
Kate, 42, spent two weeks in hospital in January after having a planned abdominal surgery, which her office said was successful, for a non-cancerous but unspecified condition. Other than a couple of blurry pictures, she has not been seen in public since appearing with the other members of the royal family on Christmas Day.
In the purported video of Kate's first appearance in public, she was seen dressed in a hoodie and leggings and carrying her shopping bags while strolling down the street beside her husband Prince William at a farm shop in Windsor near their home. "These pictures are the answer. She’s obviously recovering well from the quite serious operation she had in January," said Sun photographer Arthur Edwards.
Social media has been abuzz with speculation about her health, generating global headlines and rumours. "I didn't feel like they were hiding who they were. But they didn't quite know how people would react because there has been this build-up about their whereabouts and I got the sense they just wanted to be swift in there," Nelson Silva, 40, who took the video told the Sun.
Watch the purported video:
"Kate looked happy and relaxed. They look happy just to be able to go to a shop and mingle. Kate looked relieved like it was a success going to a shop. It felt natural," Silva further said. The couple's office Kensington Palace had no comment on the video. However, some people on social media claim that the person in the video was not Kate.
Kate's spokesperson has said Kate was recovering well but was not expected to return to official duties until after Easter which falls on March 31. Her office has also previously asked the media to respect the princess' privacy, and said it would only provide information when there were significant updates.
The video comes after Kate issued her first public statement earlier this month to thank the public for their messages of support. Some reports cited Kate has not even been seen in public ever since she was admitted -- prompting social media platforms to use "mysterious" and "vanished" words to feed their endless theories regarding Middleton's whereabouts.
Kate likely to address health concerns
Sources close to Kate and Prince William said the couple will disclose more information about her recovery in due course after she returns to her royal duties after April 17, according to The Times. "They are at their most open when out interacting with members of the public and I can see a world in which the princess might discuss her recovery out on engagements. If she was going to do it, that’s how she would do it," a source told the UK daily.
Recently, Kate landed in controversy after she posted a heavily edited photograph on social media on the occasion of Mother's Day, which was later retracted. She later apologised over the photo, saying she "occasionally experiments with editing". The Times reported that the couple intends to continue releasing photographs marking their children's birthdays.
The image was withdrawn with a “Kill” notice by international picture agencies and the UK’s PA news agency over fears it had been edited, and Kate is reported by the newspaper to have been left "devastated" over the media furore generated by the picture. "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," she said on X.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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