The internet may be loving theories about Princess Kate Middleton, but Prince William is not.
“I don’t know how they’re feeling. But talking to people who are connected to them, I think with William it’s very much, ‘Let’s just get on with the job in hand,’” Nick Bullen, Editor-in-Chief of True Royalty TV, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, March 19.
Bullen stated that William, 41, is “someone who can get very angry when things don’t go in his direction,” which has likely affected his reaction to the online speculation about Kate, 42. “I think he will be very, very angry at the conspiracy theories that have been flying around, very angry at the speculation, very angry that the messaging is appearing to get out of control,” Bullen told Us. “So, I think he will be incredibly frustrated and probably angry.”
Bulled noted that Kate is “feeling under pressure by all of this,” adding, “She is feeling that the news cycle is out of control, and it is having an impact on her.”
Kensington Palace announced in January that Kate had undergone a “planned” abdominal surgery. As details about her health scare remain under wraps, fans have speculated that the palace is not telling the whole story about her condition. Kate’s medical records were also the target of a recent security breach at The London Clinic, where she had her procedure.
On top of that, others have theorized that a body double has been used in place of Kate during a handful of recent public appearances, the latest of which was a farmer’s market outing with William on Saturday, March 16.
“It was her at the farm shop. It’s definitely her,” Bullen told Us. “I’ve been to that farm shop, it’s very close to the cottage. It was definitely her. I think they had to come out and be seen in the way that the King has been.”
King Charles III resumed royal duties earlier this month after being diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in February.
“William and Kate had to appear, Kate had to be seen, and I think the conspiracies were getting so ridiculous. You only had to go onto [X] to just see what people were saying, that she was dead, she was in a coma. There’s all kinds of stuff, crazy, crazy stuff,” Bullen continued. “And they had to come and speak. And the palace, Kensington Palace, have been very clear right from the beginning, she’ll come back on April 17. That’s the plan. Nothing has changed, but I think even they felt enough was enough.”
In addition to the conspiracies, Kate has also made headlines for altering a Mother’s Day photo she took of herself and her kids, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote via X on March 11 after several photo agencies pulled the photo due to editing. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”
Bullen told Us that the photo’s release was a “missed opportunity” to shut down theories as it was meant to be “the first thing we were going to see since she disappeared in January for the surgery.”
He added: “I think the Princess of Wales realized that and that’s why she came out so quickly with the apology. So, I think it’s, again, they wanted to stay private, they wanted to stay silent and I don’t think they realized the level of attention that was going to be placed around this, sort of, disappearance of Kate.”
Despite the drama, Bullen said he thinks the couple has nothing to worry about in terms of moving past the health and Photoshop scandals. “I’m not sure it’s going to be very different, is the honest answer,” he shared. “I think particularly Prince William has a view of how he wants to run things and he will run them his way no matter how much shouting from the press, how much shouting from the public.”
Kate has begun to return to royal duties by working from home on an initiative benefitting the lives of babies, which is funded by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. “The princess has been kept updated throughout the process,” Kensington Palace confirmed to Us on Thursday, March 21.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi