Kate Middleton has been pictured for the first time in months, though the sighting reportedly raised more questions than it gave answers following her 13-day stint in hospital earlier this year.

Concern has been rife for the Princess of Wales since word reached the public that she had undergone a planned abdominal procedure at the London Clinic in January.

Few details were given as to the future Queen’s condition, sparking rumors as to how serious her health woes might actually be. Kensington Palace said only that Kate would be hospitalized for 13 days, while detailing that the Princess would not be returning to her schedule of royal engagements until at least after Easter.

Given that Kate was deemed fit enough to return home according to the aforementioned timeline, the speculation as to her overall well being might have been put to bed in short order.

However, since late January there’s been scarcely an official update offered, leaving the public (and, of course, the media) to come to their own conclusions. Such freedom of opinion, fueled in no small part by a vacuum of information, often lends itself to outlandish gossip and hyperbolic conjecture.

And so it has proved, with questions as to what actually caused Kate Middleton’s January hospital stay equally as rife today as they were when the news was first announced.

The degraded don’t like us sharing this picture. They say Katie should have privacy… space to recover

So whatever you do, don’t repost this picture #KateMiddleton #WherIsKateMiddleton pic.twitter.com/i4jfGCcIjV

— Judy in da Richmond (@Judyinrichmond) March 5, 2024

Hardly helping matters is the fact that the Princess of Wales had not been seen in person or in photo since Christmas. That was until yesterday, when a snap of Kate was taken as she sat in a car with her mother, Carol Middleton, outside of Windsor Castle.

The image marked the first time Kate had been seen in public in 70 days. Cue a fresh frenzy of speculation, in spite of the fact that the Royal Family have tried to reassure royal fans over the past week that the Princess is simply recovering on her own terms, away from the flashing of cameras.

Christopher Andersen, royal expert and best-selling author of The King, weighed in on the matter with Fox News, telling the outlet that the sighting of Kate was “definitely not a staged appearance designed to appease the public.”

Andersen said: “She was trying to sneak out of Windsor with her mother and was clearly not pleased that they had been spotted by a photographer. This cloak-and-dagger stuff is only going to fuel more speculation about what’s really going on with Kate and with her father-in-law, King Charles.

“In its typically smug fashion, the palace issued a statement last week insisting that everything was going according to plan. They never explained, however, why Kate spent weeks in the hospital after ‘planned abdominal surgery’ and has needed to remain closeted away for months. It’s all been terribly fishy from the get-go.”

And Andersen certainly isn’t the only one to question whether there’s more than meets the eye regarding Kate’s surgery and subsequent recovery. Last week the rumors hit such a fever-pitch that Kensington Palace were forced to officially reinforce their stance that nothing is awry.

“Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the Princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates,” the Palace said in a statement. “The guidance in January stands that the Princess would be recuperating at home in Windsor.”

Even so, the perceived lack of transparency regarding Kate’s condition continues to leave burning question marks. This, Christopher Anderson told Fox, need not have been the case.

“Keep in mind that members of the royal family in particular are famous for getting out there [and] keeping up appearances no matter what,” Andersen continued.

“Queen Elizabeth never spent months recovering from an illness, and over the course of her 70-year reign, she dealt with a number of serious medical issues. So, the mystery surrounding Kate’s surgery and what it was for deepens.

“Even if she is determined to keep such things private, it wouldn’t have hurt for the Princess of Wales to pop her head above the parapet every now and then. It may be too late now. Even if she hits the ground running after Easter, which was the original plan, people are still going to wonder about whether her absence from the public eye was due to a serious medical problem, emotional exhaustion or a combination of both.”

In any case, we’re praying for Kate Middleton’s continued recovery.