Palace breaks silence on Kate Middleton conspiracy theories as spokesman says royal is focusing ‘on his work and not on social media’

The Palace has broken his silence on Kate Middleton conspiracy theories as a palace spokesman says the Prince of Wales is focusing ‘on his work and not on social media’

It comes just two days after the Princess of Wales was pictured for the first time since undergoing abdominal surgery in January as an American website published photos of her being driven by her mother near Windsor.

Although officials have refused to give any further updates on Kate Middleton’s health due to medical privacy, royal aids have insisted she is ‘doing well’.

Following abdominal surgery, Kate has remained out of the public eye for two months as she recovers.

The pictures were published by US gossip website TMZ but not in the UK after Kensington Palace appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private.

The response came in American celebrity magazine People calling for transparency over the Princess’ condition.

A spokesman told the outlet: ‘His focus is on his work and not on social media.’

The rebuttal comes less than a week after Royal aides spoke out to condemn the ‘madness of social media’ as conspiracy theories continue to circulate about the Princess of Wales’s health.

Frenzied speculation began to circulate online shortly after Prince William pulled out of the service for the late King Constantine of Greece, who died last January, while his father King Charles was also absent as his cancer treatment continues.

The Prince of Wales had not been seen since the Bafta awards in London earlier this month until he visited the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in central London. The Princess of Wales was last seen on Christmas at Sandringham.

However social media users came up with a host of wild theories about Kate’s absence, with speculation that the Princess may be in a coma, in the process of being cloned, having ‘Brazilian butt lift’ work done or simply that she had a bad haircut and is in hiding until it grows out.

The Sun reported that Royal aides said: ‘We were really clear from the start we weren’t going to provide a running commentary on the Princess of Wales’s health and only provide significant updates.

‘Obviously, we’ve seen the madness of social media and that is not going to change our strategy

There has been much on social media but the Princess has a right to privacy and asks the public to respect that.’

The picture of Kate on Monday was the first time that the princess has been seen in public since she celebrated Christmas at Sandringham with Prince William, their children and the rest of the Royal Family.

On January 17, Kensington Palace announced that Kate had been admitted to The London Clinic the previous day for ‘planned abdominal surgery’.

It said the operation had been successful but would result in a two-week stay in hospital before a lengthy period of recuperation at her Windsor home.

They added that based on the current medical advice she was unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.

A previous Kensington Palace statement read: ‘The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate.

‘She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.

‘Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share.

‘The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.’