Princess Kate to Make 'Soft' Return to Royal Duties After Weeks of Conspiracy Theories

Kate, Princess of Wales, is reportedly in the final days of her recovery from major abdominal surgery. Her Royal Highness was recently spotted walking and chatting with her husband, Prince William, which set off a wave of conspiracies that it wasn't the future queen in the clip. Despite this, and weeks of intense media speculation about her health, the princess is set to possibly attend a major upcoming royal event.

Kensington Palace advisors and planners are reportedly finalizing a "soft" return to public life for the princess with an appearance at an Easter church service. Other senior members of the monarchy will also be present, although it is unknown if King Charles III will attend due to his cancer treatments. The event is due to take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Aides are said to be then planning for Her Royal Highness to attend official solo engagements sometime in mid-April once Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, return to school.

Of all the media speculation that has surrounded the princess since her surgery on January 16, her edited Mother's Day photo has become "the most sensationalized," according to a palace insider.

Kate's return follows a media frenzy over the last eight weeks that many are comparing to the days of Diana, Princess of Wales, once she divorced a then-Prince Charles.

"My guess is Kate volunteered to issue a mea culpa statement, and her less-than-gallant handlers were happy to have her take the fall," royal author Christopher Andersen wrote of the Mother's Day photoshop scandal. "They probably thought that Kate's apology would serve the dual purpose of explaining what was going on with that photograph and simultaneously reassuring people that she's very much alive and well and aware of the public's concern."

"Obviously, they didn't think it through," he added.

"Kate is a talented curator and photographer. I'm inclined to believe her when she says she retouched the photograph," Andersen explained. "The mistake of thinking she could pass it off to the press was entirely hers."

"Compounding that error in judgment is her half-explanation, which raises more questions than it answers," he continued. “What, exactly, did she retouch and why? Once again, the palace has failed Kate and the royal family by just releasing little provocative tidbits of information and leaving the public hanging."

Online conspiracies surrounding the future queen have also dissected every detail about her surgery to try and determine what landed her on the operating table. Everything from "hysterectomy gone wrong" to "infection" to "bowel resection from prolonged bulimia nervosa" has filled Reddit and X posts in what ex-cricket star Kevin Pietersen has called "absurd."

Daily Express reported on Kate's return.