Since her successful abdominal surgery on January 17th and subsequent cancer diagnosis, Princess Katherine has kept a low profile, opting to recuperate at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Her withdrawal from public life has fueled numerous conspiracy theories and widespread speculation on social media. Some of the rumors have lacked the sensitivity one might hope for, further complicating the Royal Family’s effort to maintain privacy during her recovery.

Currently, it seems the nation is enduring one of the most challenging periods in its history, at every level, including a spiritual one. The situation appears particularly alarming as Britain’s royal family put out two statements in quick succession concerning the health of senior members. The disclosure of these visits might sound routine, but royal commentators and journalists noted that it reflected a departure from a more secretive past practice, describing it as a sign of a new era of transparency and a respect for caring for the public, as well as a means to tamp down rumors and controversy.

Questions about the whereabouts of Princess Katherine continue to concern the public, especially following claims by Spanish journalist Chelo García-Cortés, who said that Katherine’s life was in great danger after her abdominal surgery and that doctors had to save her life. The main mystery remains the absence of any favorable news about the princess following her surgery. García-Cortés claimed that Princess Katherine was in a coma due to complications, and it’s reported that doctors had to make drastic decisions, including inducing a coma and intubating her due to unexpected complications in the post-operative period. She suggested that the princess’s recovery would require extensive assistance, alleging that practically an entire hospital was being set up to support her at Windsor.

Claims on Spanish TV have been dismissed as total nonsense and fundamentally made up by a palace source. No attempt was made by journalists to fact-check anything that was said with anyone in the household. Now, García-Cortés has doubled down on her claim, saying, “I reaffirm what I said. This happens when you touch a nerve, and it’s annoying. I fully trust my source.” The palace maintains that if there is a significant update to share, it will let the public know. Until then, conspiracy theories will continue to fly around the internet, but really, what’s going on with Katherine is her business entirely.

The Princess of Wales was last seen in public in December. In January, Kensington Palace confirmed that she had undergone an unspecified abdominal surgery. By March, the princess, who is married to Prince William, had not been seen for three months, and with little concrete information, rumors and conspiracy theories have flourished. An innocuous attempt to allay the public’s curiosity with a Mother’s Day photograph fanned the flames, quickly snowballing into an unmitigated disaster where social media conspiracy theories and manipulated imagery brought anguished questions about the epistemic health of our digital age. In an age where digital editing tools are more widespread and easier to use than ever, what even is a photo anymore?

A headline in the Washington Post asserted that the photo shows why no one believes what they see anymore, while a headline in Business Insider said that it shows we are at the point of no return with trusting anything online. Many pieces of this nature made important, nuanced points about the fragility of our present information landscape. From a news media point of view, the photo incident has felt dystopian and post-truth. The timing of the news agency’s retraction of the photo, right as Britain’s newspapers were going to print, meant that some front pages appeared on Monday morning bringing word of the retraction and its associated questions, while others pointed to the photo as evidence that all is well.

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