Kensington Palace Responds to the Rumors About Princess Kate's Health

Amid countless rumors about the state of Kate Middleton's health, Kensington Palace has issued a rare update about the Duchess of Cambridge, who hasn't been seen in public since Christmas. While the palace has confirmed she's recovering from a January abdominal surgery, that hasn't stopped fans from speculating another health condition could be involved. Now, though, officials want to put an end to the rumors once and for all.

"We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant," a palace spokesperson told The Sun on Wednesday. The statement came after William dropped out of a thanksgiving service for his godfather, Greece's late King Constantine, on Tuesday. (At that time, a palace source told People Kate "continues to be doing well" in her recovery.)

The palace spokesperson's latest statement isn't wrong; the original statement did say Kate was "unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter." Still, Kate was photographed leaving the hospital in heels and a designer dress just hours after giving birth to Prince Louis in 2018, a fact that's led fans to speculate her current condition may be worse than the palace is letting on.

Of course, Kate isn't the only member of the British royal family who's dealing with health complications. Buckingham Palace confirmed earlier this month that King Charles has cancer. Amid ongoing medical treatment, the king has stepped back from public duties, per CNN.