Prince William Ignited Rumors About His Marriage To Kate Middleton With A Single Statement

In the wake of her abdominal surgery and subsequent period of recovery, rumors about Kate Middleton's health crisis are drawing plenty of suspicion. Catherine, Princess of Wales' absence from the public eye since her mid-January stay at the London Clinic doesn't come entirely as a surprise since a statement from Kensington Palace informed the world that she'd be resting and recuperating privately until after the Easter holiday. Yet, the extent of the radio silence from the Princess of Wales during her time in recovery has sparked skepticism among royal fans. And one statement from William, Prince of Wales, has some folks thinking that perhaps the mysterious nature of Kate's time away from the public has less to do with her health problems and more to do with her marriage.

On February 20, the Prince and Princess of Wales' official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted a statement from William acknowledging the suffering that continues to build as a result of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Despite the statement being posted by the royal couple's joint account, multiple details indicated that this statement was from William alone. This is highly unusual, and whether a subtle message about the Prince and Princess of Wales's marriage was intended in this call for peace, the public is certainly picking up on one. 

In the statement posted by the Prince and Princess of Wales' X account, Prince William stated that "too many have been killed" in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. As he proceeded to speak on the conflict, he used only first-person pronouns, indicating that these statements were coming from him, alone, and not also on behalf of Kate Middleton. This was further confirmed by the fact that the post was captioned "a statement from The Prince of Wales." These details make it clear to any reader that Kate wasn't involved with the message. The most important detail, though, is one that may take a closer look to notice. 

At the top of the statement is a logo consisting of a "W" with a crown. This is William's emblem. He and Kate Middleton have a joint monogram, as well. Seeing as this statement wasn't personal to William and would have more likely been something that Kate would sign off on, many folks are wondering why the joint monogram wouldn't be used. Among the statement's many replies and retweets were folks raising their concerns about what the unusual nature of the statement means about Kate. "Is Kate Middleton secretly dead? The whole situation with her is off. 'I' ... " wrote one X user. 

With the vagueness surrounding Kate Middleton's surgery, her subsequent absence from the public, and Prince William's statement, royal watchers all over social media want answers, with #WhereIsKate trending. A few things that happened in the week following William's statement have caused even more concern. On February 26, a video posted to the Royal Family X account showed King Charles III thanking folks for the outpouring of support in response to his cancer diagnosis. The video raised more red flags about why Kate hasn't been seen or heard from since her own health troubles. The day after the video was posted, William skipped out on a royal memorial at the last minute, citing "personal reasons."

The evidence that there's more than meets the eye regarding Kate's disappearance seems to be mounting. And, with the purposeful erasure of the Princess of Wales in William's statement, more fans are fearing the worst for the royal marriage. According to Katie Nicholl, author of "The New Royals," however, it may be too soon to pass judgment. She told Grazia, "I think people are reading too much into [William's Gaza statement], Catherine is off work at the moment recovering from a major operation." She notes that the statement's political nature may have prompted William to leave Kate out, adding, "My understanding is that William, behind the scenes, is being incredibly supportive." Ultimately, time will tell what's going on behind the closed doors of Kensington Palace.