Rampant Kate Middleton Rumors Have Royal Fans Missing Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II may have died nearly 18 months ago, but her loss is still being felt today — most notably in the contrast of how things seem to be going in the royal family now as compared to how they were going when Queen Elizabeth was still alive. It seems to be centered, at the moment, around the rumors about Catherine, Princess of Wales, since it was announced by Kensington Palace that she would be out of the public eye for weeks as she recovered from abdominal surgery.

Some think that the details about Kate's surgery just don't add up, and things seem to have gotten worse when Kate released a photo of herself with her three kids for Mother's Day in the UK. Conspiracies around Kate's condition exploded when the Mother's Day photo got called out by a number of major news agencies for having been edited. Kate then confessed to editing her Mother's Day portrait.

In the wake of all the drama, some people are posting online about missing Queen Elizabeth and pointing out how things were different when she was the head of the family. One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "You assume the Palace is competent, but everything we've seen since Queen Elizabeth II died is that they're not."

Others joked about the royal family seemingly going into a tailspin these days without the queen at the helm. One said that Queen Elizabeth had been keeping the royal family together and going, but she had "to watch it fall apart like Logan Roy because of her idiot kids" (Logan Roy is the patriarch of the dysfunctional, super-rich family in HBO's "Succession"). Another compared her to the famous Kardashian clan "momager" — "Liz was their Kris Jenner. She knew how to keep a narrative tight!"

The ongoing health speculation about Catherine, Princess of Wales is also tied in with King Charles III's health in the wake of his cancer diagnosis. The palace hasn't confirmed the type cancer he has, and they've given even fewer details about Kate's condition. Queen Elizabeth was known for her stoicism and stiff upper lip, and this new status quo of sharing some personal health info about the family (but not all) doesn't seem to be working out for the palace, PR-wise. One person pointed out: "This is what happens when you 'try to explain[.]' The palace dug their own grave by telling the public about King Charles's cancer diagnosis, posting photos of him, but nothing about the [Princess of Wales], this would never have happened with Queen Elizabeth, Never Complain[,] Never Explain."

Queen Elizabeth was certainly known for running a tight ship, as it were, and she's getting a lot of credit for how much work she must have been doing behind the scenes to keep things going smoothly. One person posted on X about how she got the family through the drama that was Prince Andrew's scandalous connection to Jeffrey Epstein: "Liz had that family WORKING, you hear? She ruthlessly got them through Prince Andrew. Can you imagine that happening under Charles' watch? The whole charade of a family would have disintegrated in a week."

Others see this as a confirmed signal that it's time to call it quits for the monarchy, if they can't keep up. "Watching these 'senior Royals' burn out so quickly, makes me appreciate the late Queen even more. The British Monarchy died with Queen Elizabeth II. It's time to end it officially. Charles, Camilla, Kate and William are simply not fit for their roles," one wrote. While Kate and King Charles are both more, perhaps, understandably sidelined because of health issues right now, this could be seen as more of a calling out of Prince William and Queen Camilla, particularly considering Camilla's decision to take some time off from royal appearances in March after reportedly taking on too much work in the wake of King Charles' cancer diagnosis.