American gossip site TMZ is facing pressure to pull its ‘poor taste’ Kate Middleton documentary – after the Princess of Wales revealed she is battling cancer.
TMZ Investigates: ‘Where Is Kate Middleton’ aired on the Fox network in the US last night and claimed to look into her ‘sudden disappearance’ following abdominal surgery in January.
The show heard from broadcaster Piers Morgan and Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, while a US surgeon speculated on medical procedures she might have had.
No doubt causing fresh anguish to Prince William and Kate, the show aired a series of the outlandish theories about her operation in the wake of social media frenzy over her absence from public life in recent weeks.
Kate was pictured on Christmas Day 2023 with her family attending church at Sandringham before undergoing surgery in January – which is when her cancer was discovered
March 11: Prince William and Kate are seen leaving Windsor together as they are driven in a car
The ‘TMZ Investigates: Where Is Kate Middleton ‘ documentary was on Fox in the US last night
Mother-of-three Kate’s bombshell diagnosis came after weeks of cruel speculation about her health, following her abdominal surgery in January, which triggered a wave of wild conspiracy theories online.
Celebrities and businesses also joined in, with Kim Kardashian facing a backlash after appearing to joke about the Princess’s absence. She captioned an Instagram post about her one of her new outfits: ‘On my way to go find Kate.’
In a deeply personal statement shared worldwide at 6pm GMT, Kate, 42, said she was now undergoing ‘preventative’ chemotherapy.
‘This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,’ added the Princess.
The announcement came less than a day after TMZ Investigates: ‘Where Is Kate Middleton’ aired in the US.
Sitting on a bench at Windsor, surrounded by spring flowers, the Princess of Wales has taken the extraordinary step of revealing to the world that she has cancer
A trailer for the programme, which was broadcast on Fox at 9pm Eastern Time last night (1am UK time this morning), was accompanied by a dramatic voiceover.
It said: ‘A TMZ exclusive – it’s the royal scandal that’s rocked the world – from the Princess’s absence… to… cover ups.’
Before Kate’s cancer announcement on Friday evening, TMZ issued a distasteful post on X, declaring: ‘Kate Middleton’s mystery disappearance from public view will be solved shortly, TMZ has learned, because Kensington Palace is about to reveal specific details on her health.’
The broadcaster faced a backlash on social media over its ‘harassment’ of the Princess of Wales.
‘Shame on you TMZ. You were the driving force of her harassment. Especially with your expo last night. Disgusting,’ said one user on X, formerly Twitter.
Others called on TMZ to pull its documentary on Kate. ‘@TMZ, will you acknowledge all the lies you put forward? The video wasn’t real. The pictures weren’t real. You lied!’ raged one person.
Kate at her ‘Together At Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 8
Kate’s announcement is the second health diagnosis to rock the Royal Family, following the news King Charles was also battling cancer, found by doctors while he was being treated for his benign enlarged prostate.
A picture published online on March 4, showing Kate as a front seat passenger in a car driven by her mother, Carole Middleton, and another image of the princess sitting beside her husband in a car leaving Windsor on March 11 did not dispel rumours.
But despite Kate being seen out in public, it has failed to stem the flow of malicious gossip about her health.
The theories became frenzied after the release of a photograph on her official social media channels for Mother’s Day, when it became clear that the picture had been modified using Adobe Photoshop.
Several picture agencies issued rare ‘kill’ notices for the photo because it had been substantially altered – with online wannabe detectives pointing out the flaws in the photograph, which Kate said she edited herself.
Matters were not helped when pic agency Getty Images said over the weekend that an image of Queen Elizabeth II sitting with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, also taken by Kate, had been ‘digitally enhanced at source’.
The mother-of-three’s bombshell diagnosis came after weeks of cruel speculation about her health
Kate’s Mother’s Day image sparked backlash after it was revealed to have been altered using photo editing software. Highlighted are some of the areas changed
TMZ is now facing pressure to dump its documentary on the Princess. The American broadcaster heard from Piers Morgan who spoke about what sources had told him
And despite video being obtained by The Sun showing William and Kate walking happily through the car park of the Windsor Farm Shop, social media remains unsatisfied that she is recovering well.
On Thursday, American comic Jimmy Kimmel slammed conspiracy theorists for spreading sick rumours about the Princess online
The 56-year-old talk show host weighed on the frenzy surrounding the conspiracy theories which stem from the Princess of Wales’ health.
During a 14-minute monologue, Kimmel told the audience of his show: ‘Why do we have to know where she is?
‘It’s not like she’s the bus driver. She had an operation, she had abdominal surgery maybe she has a colostomy bag and doesn’t want everybody to see it.’
‘People are demanding she get dressed up and march through London so we can have a look at her. Leave this woman alone!’
X, formerly Twitter, is awash with ‘verified’ users posting scarcely believable theories about Kate.
On Thursday, 56-year-old comedian Jimmy Kimmel weighed on the frenzy surrounding the conspiracy theories stemming from the Princess of Wales’ health
The Princess of Wales arrives at the Shaping Us National Symposium at the Design Museum on November 15
Under new owner Elon Musk, the site’s algorithms prioritise and promote content posted by those paying at least £9.20 a month for ‘Premium’ membership over that shared by non-paying members.
As a result, users searching for information on Kate Middleton find themselves quickly immersed in unverified and libelous speculation from which there is essentially no escape.
‘This Kate Middleton situation has fr (for real) got me feeling like a flat earther,’ said one user on X, formerly Twitter, referencing the cohort of tin-foil hat wearers who believe the Earth is not a globe.
Another user said: ‘I might have to tap out of this whole Kate Middleton thing because I genuinely, hand on heart, do not think these pics look like the same woman and it’s making me feel like I’m losing my mind. Like, I’m not trying to be a conspiracy theorist, but that is not her??’
Some users have tried to use artificial intelligence (AI) to ‘enhance’ the images of Kate at the farm shop, like the fictional technology used in shows such as CSI to improve grainy CCTV images of suspects.
They are then posting the shoddy images hallucinated by the AI as ‘proof’ that the woman pictured in Windsor is a body double.
Kate revealed tonight she is under going treatment for cancer and is being treated with chemotherapy
Prince William and Catherine were rocked by the Princess of Wales’ cancer news
Others are even going after the man who took the video, attempting to claim that he was ‘hired’ by the royal family to orchestrate the entire affair.
Some have lamented the state of social media as the unsubstantiated theories have continued to proliferate.
In America, where the royals hold quasi-celebrity status, Kate has become the subject of jokes on late night talk shows. Even Kim Kardashian has been speculating, sharing pictures on Instagram captioned: ‘On my way to go find Kate.’
Some have seen fit to create jokes and memes – including Dublin Airport, which shared a crude Photoshop of William and Kate walking through the terminal, using a picture of them from the weekend.
Prince William and Kate are said to be ‘shaken’ by the lurid, unfair speculation, which has included the state of their marriage – and even saw some claiming
Catherine’s cancer was discovered only after she underwent major abdominal surgery at The London Clinic in January.
At the time Kensington Palace said that it was non-cancerous. They have confirmed again tonight that is the case and that no tests had confirmed the presence of cancer.
However, post-operative tests subsequently found that cancer ‘had been present’.
The Princess is now on what has been described as a ‘recovery pathway’ having commenced a course of chemotherapy in late February.
It is for this reason that Prince William pulled out of a memorial service for his late godmother, King Constantine of Greece.
Kensington Palace say they will not be sharing details of what kind of cancer the Princess has, or what stage of cancer it is, and has strongly asked people not to speculate.
Kate, 42, is on the mend and joined her husband and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on a half-term holiday on the Sandringham estate
However, they say that she is in ‘good spirits and focused on her recovery’.
‘She is hugely grateful to the medical team for the care they are providing to her,’ a spokesman said.
‘She now needs time, space and privacy to complete her treatment and make a full recovery.’
It is understood the announcement was made tonight not because of unpleasant social media speculation about her health and whereabouts – although that has been upsetting and unpleasant – but because her children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louise, five, broke up from school today, which gave them the opportunity to take them away privately and protect them from the inevitable public shock.
The Mail understands that Prince William will carry out engagements when the children return to school after the Easter holidays
In her video statement the Princess, dressed casually in a stripped Breton top and jeans, said: ‘I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery.
‘It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.
‘In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.
‘My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.’