Beloved Catherine hasn’t been seen since Christmas and people are starting to worry.
Is something bigger going on here, or was this part of the plan? Kensington Palace may have fumbled their PR, but this actually could be one of the greatest assets for the Princess of Wales and perhaps this isn’t the first time she’s used this kind of mystery to her advantage.
Today I’m breaking down The Princess of Wales' mysterious absence, the theories surrounding her recovery, and how this isn’t the first time she's taken this approach. By the end of this summary you’ll learn how to use this to your advantage as well!
Catherine– as I'm calling her instead of Kate Middleton just as William, her family and friends do so since she's joined the Royal Family- hasn’t been seen publicly in months... exactly as we were told would happen. Early January 2024, Kensington Palace posted a notice that Catherine had undergone a planned abdominal surgery and wouldn’t be seen in public again until Easter after 10-14 days in the hospital.
This statement immediately put the world on high alert as such a long hospital stay must be really serious and concerning. William and the King and Queen visited her while there, but she was never seen in or around the hospital. We later received word from the palace that she was home, surgery had gone well, and she was recovering. The palace specifically asked for people to respect her privacy and not speculate– so I won’t do that– but whatever her illness is, it's clearly significant.
For a month of so, the world has let Catherine recover in peace… that was until Prince William pulled out of his godfather's memorial service 45 minutes in advance citing “personal reasons”, leaving the world shaken that something had gone awry with Catherine. Kensington Palace tried to calm everyone's nerves by releasing a statement noting she was recovering well… but that didn’t do much to fix the problem. Immediately, rumors started swirling and have continued to escalate ever since.
Some seriously bizarre theories have surfaced over the last week, and if the palace hadn’t shared their side of the story– these things might be more believable.
Initially the storyline began spiraling when a Spanish magazine announced they have the scoop that the Princess has been in a coma for weeks. People began demanding a response from the Palace, to which Catherine's spokesperson responded saying the rumors are “ludicrous”. Despite the denial, social media hasn't stopped investigating.
Heartbreakingly, others have taken the story much further saying that she has died and everyone is waiting for the right time to announce given the King has been diagnosed with Cancer.
The royal cheating rumor has been resurrected again with speculations that William really has cheated with their friend and neighbor Rose Hanbury (we concretely know this is a baseless claim) and Catherine has found a man too and ran off with him in response. Can you imagine thinking this couple would be in that scenario?
The funniest tongue in cheek theory circling the web is that Catherine got lost visiting the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Family Event… Did you see this? Perhaps someone probably did get lost there but thankfully it's most unlikely Catherine.
Speculation has been made by some that The Princess is a new celebrity guest on The Masked Singer while others think this classically beautiful woman has gone under the knife for a BBL and will reappear in a few months looking like a Kardashian. The rabbit hole of Catherine conspiracies is deep, dark, and getting scarier by the day! Maybe somewhere in Windsor Catherine is lounging on the couch, tea in hand, scrolling through X and having a good laugh.
In all reality, Investigative Author Tom Bower, who wrote the book REVENGE about Meghan and Harry (highly recommend), shared an insight that he knows what her ailment is, but can’t say, yet confirms it is even more serious than the palace is letting on. He followed saying that she certainly will make a recovery but likely will be out of the spotlight for even longer than we’ve been told.
Catherine is fascinating because in a sense, this isn’t the first time she’s used mystery with the elegance law of subtraction to point attention to the things that matter. This time the attention happens to be pointing towards herself and her whereabouts and it is completely strategic.
Catherine has so many patronages, charities, and causes that are pretty much the main reason her role and the Royals continue to exist– to highlight and bring attention to these underrepresented groups.
But similarly to her mother-in-law and unlike her sister-in-law, Catherine takes a subdued approach with the public, making very strategic moves to what she does and doesn't share with the full understanding this vacuum always gets people talking. The key here is all elegant women do this.
Catherine is famous for her hidden talents like surprising the world by walking on stage and playing the piano skillfully, picking up a tennis racket at an event and being a total pro, or suddenly show off her perfect sign language skills, or altogether speak another language… and the people’s fascination skyrockets every time this happens. By not revealing aspects of herself, she is creating this additional layer of interest and attraction making people MORE interested in her. People are desperate to know more about her worldwide… because she remains private and selective about her skills, talents and plans.
So many women today jump on the trauma dumping trends, or are chronically online posting and sharing anything every single thought in their heads that has to be played for their audience online- and they’re thinking that is how they will be seen as interesting and relevant.
However, in Catherine we see an entirely different approach, the classically elegant approach, to creating interest and impact.
Her subdued subtracted approach is something we can all learn from– instead of oversharing or revealing everything about ourselves, Catherine can give us a good reminder that sometimes what is missing is the most interesting part. That’s frankly elegance in a nutshell!
When Catherine returns, I truly believe it will break the internet with people seeing she's safe, healed, and simply has been resting. This time away is probably very needed for her– especially under the extreme security and attacks that she has been receiving from her extended family in California.. I’d take a three month- long break too under those conditions.
Catherine is an all-star, rarely putting a foot out of line, and is beloved worldwide for her commitment to her family and tradition. She is someone I personally look up to immensely and I wish her a speedy recovery.
Where do you think Catherine is? Do you believe any of these theories? Let me know in the comments of YouTube. Don't forget you can also download my free ebook diving into the 4 principles of elegance– including this law of subtraction here–which will help you learn to stand in any room, impress anyone and thrive in your calling.
