In a bombshell development in the long running medical mystery surrounding her health, the Princess of Wales, formerly known as Kate Middleton, was seen in photographs for the first time since Christmas. 

The photos, published by TMZ and viewable only in the U.S., show the princess on what the British tabloids are calling a “school run,” sitting in the passenger seat of a late-model black Audi Q7, being driven by her mother, Carole Middleton. There did not appear to be royal protection officers present.

Before the Monday sighting, the Princess had not been seen since she was photographed with her family during Christmas celebrations at the royal retreat at Sandringham. 

Some three weeks after she was seen at Sandringham, Kensington Palace shocked royal watchers everywhere with a terse statement, on January 17th, that the Princess had undergone “abdominal surgery,” would be hospitalized for 14 days, and that “based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

The palace offered no other information about the Princess’s medical condition, baffling the public. Doctors observed that most abdominal surgeries require only a few days’ recovery, and it was unclear why the Princess’s “abdominal surgery” would require such a long hospitalization, or why her subsequent convalescence would keep her out of view until April at the earliest.

As the weeks dragged on, the Palace’s closed-mouth approach to the princess’s health led to the sprouting of multiple conspiracy theories, some of them truly bizarre. Then, on February 27, the Prince of Wales pulled out of the memorial service for his godfather, the King of Greece, citing “a personal matter.” 

This caused nothing short of hysteria among the Princess’s fans, who feared the Prince could only have pulled out of something so important if it concerned the Princess. Her name became among the top trending topics on X, formerly Twitter, and a Reddit thread speculating on the Princess’s health received over 2 thousand comments. 

The uproar led the Palace  to make a second statement, which didn’t do much to allay fears..

“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,” the Palace spokesman stated.

An earlier statement issued on January 29 by the palace had tersely detailed that, “The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress.”

The Princess’s disappearance came amid a series of setbacks for the Palace. It was only a few days after Her Royal Highness’s surgery that the Palace announced on February 5  that her father-in-law, King Charles III, had been diagnosed with an unnamed form of cancer, resulting in His Majesty taking a break from his working duties. 

In the absence of the King,  the Queen Consort, Camilla, became front and center of the royal family’s engagements, leading the royals at the Greek King’s memorial service.. However,  on Sunday,  Camilla announced that she would be taking a break from public appearances as outlets speculated the royal had “hit a wall.” 

A royal source told the Sunday Times that the Queen, “was not expecting to find herself in the position of leading the family” but is “absolutely prepared to do whatever needs to be done for the institution.” 

The 76-year-old’s next public engagement will be on March 11 at Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Day service, where she will represent the royal family. 

The Commonwealth services has previously been subject to protests by anti-monarchy groups. In 2023, activists held signs outside the famed chapel reading “Not my King,” as Charles walked by, seemingly unfazed. 

As the Sun previously reported, the turmoil in the Royal Family is not limited to the immediate working members. The Royal Family was shocked last week by the suicide in the Cotswolds of Thomas Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor, the daughter of the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Kingston, who had reportedly dated Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa, in the 2010s,  was found dead at his parents’ home, with massive head trauma, alongside a gun. 

Lady Gabriella is 56th in line to the throne and her parents, Prince Michael and Baroness Marie-Christine, currently live at Kensington Palace’s Apartment 10, a stone’s throw away from the residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.