Since the Princess of Wales withdrew temporarily from public life following her January abdominal surgery, her condition and whereabouts have dominated discussion on social media and news sites.
WATCH: The Princess of Wales explains her Shaping Us initiative
And Kim Kardashian showed that even Hollywood isn’t above the gossip as she proved she was keeping up with the Kate conspiracies, joking about it with her 364 million Instagram followers.
“On my way to go find Kate,” the reality star captioned a snap that she shared on March 16 of herself about to hop in a car.
The quip quickly divided the internet, with many labelling it as “hilarious” while others thought it was “tasteless”.
“The world is divided into two groups. Those who are living for and those who are loathing this caption,” commented one follower.
Gossip and conspiracy theories – ranging from death claims to suggestions she’d been replaced by a lookalike and everything in between – have flourished since the princess took sick leave.
And after a rare misstep from Kate, who was forced to apologise after photoshopping a Mother’s Day snap that saw Kensington Palace labelled as an unreliable source by the international press agency AFP, Hollywood has continued to add fuel to the fire as she continues to recover.
TV comedian Stephen Colbert gave a monologue on the March 12 episode of his The Late Show, that brought up an old and unproven rumour wildly suggesting a relationship between William and family friend Lady Rose Hanbury.
“The rumours are completely false,” lawyers for the Marchioness of Cholmondeley told Business Insider.
While the furore has led some commentators to question whether this could be the end of the monarchy, Giselle Bastin, an associate professor from Flinders University and royal expert tells WHO it’s all just an unfortunate part of the job.
“I’m not of the view that recent events around the health of two senior royals and the release of photoshopped images of the royals will see any lasting damage to the family’s or institution’s reputation,” explains Giselle.
“If anything, the sheer scale of the attention—sensible or otherwise—would suggest that the Windsors remain as fixed in the public’s imagination as ever before.
“Certainly, the level of conjecture and shrill tone of the conspiracy theorists has at times bordered on the unseemly, but what we’re witnessing is just another instance of the pressures the royals face when trying to maintain some kind of boundary between their public and private selves.”
But is there more to the joke than Kim just taking advantage of a trending story to score some easy social media likes?
Her post was put up on the same weekend that Prince Harry enjoyed a ski trip in Aspen with Corey Gamble, boyfriend of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.
“They’ve been skiing during the day and going to one of the better-known speak-easies in the evening,” a source told British newspaper Daily Mail.
While neither Kris, Kim nor Meghan Markle attended the boys’ trip, it’s just the latest sign that could point to them teaming up on a special project together as the former Suits star launches her American Riviera Orchard site.
“Love or hate Kim, there is no doubt that she is a master of reinvention and knows how to turn nothing into a million-dollar idea,” a royal insider tells WHO. “That is exactly the kind of help that Meghan needs.”
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