Charles Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, has commented on the viral theories surrounding Princess Kate Middleton’s whereabouts.
“I do worry about what happened to the truth,” Spencer, 59, said in a teaser for his Sunday, March 17, sit-down with the BBC.
Kate, who is the wife of Spencer’s nephew Prince William, has been a major topic of conversation on the internet since the start of the year. Kensington Palace confirmed in January that Kate, 42, had undergone a “planned abdominal surgery,” which was ultimately successful. The Princess of Wales has since privately recovered at home, only being spotted in a series of blurry photos snapped earlier this month.
Royal watchers subsequently started speculating about Kate’s whereabouts, theorizing that the March photos of Kate riding in a car were Photoshopped. However, Kensington Palace did say in its initial statement that the princess would not be making public appearances until “after Easter.”
During his Sunday interview, Spencer was further asked how the current level of the “online kind of conspiracy” compared to the “press intrusion” surrounding his sister Diana’s death. Diana died in a fatal car crash in August 1997 in Paris after being chased into a tunnel by photographers. She was 36.
“I think it was more dangerous back in the day,” Spencer told the BBC. “I think if I look back to ’97 and Diana’s death, I think the circumstances of her death [were] so shocking that it did make the industry that supports the paparazzi really consider more carefully what it couldn’t, not because they had a moral judgment but because it was unacceptable.”
Spencer, as well as William, 41, and his younger brother, Prince Harry, have all been open about the nature of Diana’s death and criticized the media’s alleged role in the accident.
“My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad, but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels. I saw things, I experienced things. I learned things,” Harry, 39, claimed in an episode of his Harry & Meghan Netflix docuseries, which dropped in December 2022. “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution. I remember thinking, ‘How can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me?’”
Kate is now the Princess of Wales, a title that was previously held by Diana upon her marriage to King Charles III.
Neither Kensington Palace nor Kate specifically further addressed the theories surrounding her whereabouts, but she did attempt to soothe potential concerns on March 10 while celebrating the U.K.’s Mother’s Day. Kate had posted a social media pic with her and William’s three kids, which multiple news outlets eventually pulled from their sites after it was allegedly manipulated by the source.
Kate has since admitted to doctoring the image.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote in a March statement. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”
